
Class. 

Book__ 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



/ 






By George L. Clark 



Silas Deane 

A History of Connecticut 




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A HISTORY OF 

CONNECTICUT 

ITS PEOPLE AND INSTITUTIONS 



BY 

GEORGE li CLARK 

l\ 
AUTHOR OF 
" SILAS DEANE : A LEADER IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION," 
"NOTIONS OF A YANKEE PARSON," ETC. 



WITH 100 ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS 



G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 
NEW YORK AND LONDON 
ZIbe Ikmcfeerbocfter press 

1914 



FH 



Copyright, 1914 

BY 

GEORGE L. CLARK 



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Ube fmfcfeerbocfeet press, "Hew ffiorft 

M 10 1914 



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Go 

MY CHILDREN 

THIS VOLUME IS AFFECTIONATELY 

DEDICATED 

IN MEMORY OF 

HAPPY DAYS 

IN 
CONNECTICUT 



CONNECTICUT 

'T is a rough land of earth and stone and tree, 

Where breathes no castled lord or cabined slave; 

Where thoughts and tongues and hands are bold and free, 

And friends will find a welcome, foes a grave; 

And where none kneel, when to Heaven they pray, 

Nor even then, unless in their own way. 

Fitz-Greene Halleck. 



PREFACE 

WHILE Connecticut is passing from foundation work 
and a style of living, moulded by the frugal Puritan 
influences of the early years, into conditions, shaped largely 
by people from many other lands; while wealth, luxuries 
and amusements multiply, it is well to review the past, 
study the reasons for the migrations hither; glance at early 
idealism, hardships and problems; see the thrift, wari- 
ness and common sense; observe what farmers had for 
breakfast, what and how they believed, the way they worked, 
struggled and occasionally played; how fines as well as 
interest in a warm theology promoted attendance at the 
icy meeting-house. It is diverting to notice leather breeches, 
home-spun coats and linsey-woolsey gowns issuing from 
forest, sheep-pasture and flax-field; watch the evolution of 
the log-house into the gambrel -roofed and lean-to; see the 
bridle-path widen and harden into turnpike, railroad and 
trolley; schooner change to steamboat and ferry to bridge; 
mark how the versatile people managed with Indians, wolves, 
rattlesnakes, witchcraft, slavery, tramps and Sunday; how 
they erected schools, meeting-houses, whipping-posts and 
pillories in every town; how they relieved the monotony of 
brewing beer, working the loom and hoeing corn by a journey 
to Tower Hill to enjoy the luxury of a moving picture of a 
public hanging. We are to see the innocent-looking sloop 
go down the river toward Barbados, loaded with horses, 
pipe-staves, salted fish, beef and pork, returning with a 
cargo of rum and molasses, or of unwilling immigrants from 



Vlll 



Preface 



Guinea; examine afresh the evolution of town and colonial 
government; the working of Charles II 's liberal charter; the 
development of courts, schools, colleges, taxation, insurance, 
temperance, music, art, literature, industries, penal and 
reformatory methods, philanthropies and religious freedom ; 
how slavery grew, waned and ceased; mines were opened, 
inventions multiplied, looms worked and brickyards 
poured forth their treasure; how tobacco fields, market 
gardens, orchards, factories, Yankee notions and tin-peddlers 
nourished. 

In touching so many interests, adventurous were the 
daring that should expect to include in one volume all that 
deserves saying, and with infallible accuracy, but in this 
endeavor to describe the place and influence of Connecticut 
in the onward movement of the country, the author believes 
that the work invites to an instructive and interesting 
excursion into a vital and inspiring field. 

The author wishes to express his hearty thanks to all 
who helped him by suggestions and criticisms : chief of these 
is Charles M. Andrews, Professor of History in Yale College, 
who, with accurate scholarship, made many invaluable 
comments. Among others who have placed the writer 
under decided obligations are the following librarians: 
George S. Godard of the State Library, Albert C. Bates of 
the Connecticut Historical Society Library, Frank B. Gay 
and Forrest Morgan of the Watkinson Library. Material 
assistance has also been rendered in lines in which they are 
experts by President F. S. Luther and Professor J. J. McCook 
of Trinity College, Professor W. S. Pratt of Hartford Theo- 
logical Seminary, Professors W. M. Bailey, Williston 
Walker and H. A. Beers of Yale University; Dr. Edwin A. 
Down, Chairman of the State Board of Charities; C. D. Hine, 
Secretary of the State Board of Education; Dr. W. N. 
Thompson, Superintendent of the Hartford Retreat for the 
Insane; Dr. G. H. Knight, late Superintendent of the School 
for the Feeble-minded; Albert Garvin, Superintendent of 



Preface ix 

the State Reformatory; W. A. Garner, Warden of the Con- 
necticut State Prison; W. G. Fairbank, Superintendent of 
the Connecticut Industrial School for Girls; C. M. Williams, 
Superintendent of the Connecticut School for Boys; Dr. 
W. E. Fisher of the staff of the Connecticut Hospital for the 
Insane; Dr. H. M. Pollock, Superintendent of the Norwich 
Hospital for the Insane; E. M. Warner, Esquire, of Putnam; 
C. M. Thompson, Secretary of the Connecticut Prison Asso- 
ciation; J. M. Taylor, President of the Connecticut Mutual 
Insurance Company; Burton Mansfield, Insurance Commis- 
sioner; W. S. Corbin and C. C. Maxfield, Tax Commissioner 
and Clerk; R. B. Brandegee, C. N. Flagg and James Britton, 
artists; Charles Hopkins Clark of the Hartford Courant and 
Professor Anson D. Morse of Amherst College. 

G. L. C. 

Wethersfield, Connecticut, 
April i, 1914. 



CONTENTS 

[APTER 

I The Prehistoric Period 

II The Settlement 

III Settlement Concluded 

IV The Indians 

V Wars with the Indians 

VI Forming the Government 

VII Courts and Laws 



VIII How the People Lived in the Early Days ioi 



IX The Early Religious Life 
X Witchcraft 
XI Slavery .... 



XII Connecticut Struggles for Herself and 
Neighbors .... 



164 

XIII The United Colonies of New England 181 

XIV Early Manufactures and Commerce 
XV Expansion ..... 

XVI Education ..... 
XVII The Colleges 



1 

4 

17 

28 

38 
53 
81 



119 

145 
155 



185 
195 
207 
228 



Xll 



Contents 



CHAPTER 

XVIII Development of the Highways 

XIX The Great Awakening . 

XX The Revolution .... 

XXI Connecticut and the Constitution of 
the United States 

XXII Conditions at the Close of the Eigh 
teenth Century 

XXIII Finance and Taxation 

XXIV The Second War for Independence . 

XXV The Constitution of 1818 

XXVI Inventions, Discoveries, and Industries 
of the Nineteenth Century 

XXVII The Later Religious Life 

XXVIII The Anti-Slavery Movement in Con 
necticut ..... 

XXIX Connecticut in the Civil War 

XXX Insurance ..... 

XXXI Transportation .... 

XXXII The Poor-Law 

XXXI I I Penal and Reformatory Institutions 

XXXIV Philanthropic Institutions 
XXXV Temperance Legislation 

XXXVI Literature ..... 

XXXVII Art ..... 

XXXVIII Music 



Contents 



xm 



CHAPTER 

XXXIX Agriculture .... 
XL The City .... 

XLI The Old Connecticut and the New 
Bibliography .... 
Index .... 



PAGE 
536 

547 
553 
56i 
565 



i ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

The Connecticut State Capitol, Hartford, Conn. 
Completed in 1879 .... Frontispiece 



The Perched Glacial Bowlder at Taftville . 

Glacial Strle, Summit Street, Hartford 

John Winthrop, Jr., of New London . 

Rev. John Davenport . ... 

The Old Home of Hon. John Webster, Fifth Governor 
of Connecticut, at Hartford 

A Typical Chain Ferry 

Whitefield House, Guilford, in 1640. 

The Plan of the Pequot Fort 

Belt and Strings of Wampum . 

The Monument at the Scene of the Swamp Fight 
Westport ..... 

A Pastoral Scene in Woodstock 

Bissell's Ferry in Windsor, in Continuous Operation 
since about 1645 .... 



4 

4 

14 

18 

20 
20 

28 
42 
42 

46 
50 

50 



Yale College at the Left and State House near the 

Middle, Center Church at the Right, New Haven 60 

The Title-Page of the First Election Sermon 
Preached in Connecticut ..... 72 

XV 



XVI 



Illustrations 



PAGE 

The Charter of 1662 ...... 78 

Facsimile of the Title-Page of Peter's History . . 92 

Chief- Justice Oliver Ellsworth and his Wife, Abigail 
Wolcott Ellsworth ...... 94 

The Tapping Reeve Law School .... 96 

Tapping Reeve ........ 96 

Facsimile of the Title-Page of the First Published 
Law Reports in America ..... 98 

Seals of Connecticut and Hooker's Declaration . 100 

Facsimile Title-page of a Roger Sherman Almanac . 112 

Edmund Andros . . . . . . . .168 

The Wyllys Mansion and the Charter Oak . .172 

Early Sailing Vessels . . . . . .186 

Abel Buell's Petition for a Lottery . . . .194 

Ticket of a Lottery to Build the Bulfinch State- 
House ......... 200 

The Connecticut Land Gore ..... 200 

The Horn Book . 218 

A Page of Webster's Speller . . . . .218 

Noah Webster . . 220 

Henry Barnard ....... 220 

Sarah Porter ........ 222 

Catherine E. Beecher 222 

Emma Hart Willard ....... 224 



Illustrations 



Manasseh Cutler ...... 

The Buildings of Modern Yale University 

View of the Connecticut State Library, on Capitol 
Hill, Hartford ...... 



Timothy Dwight ...... 

Professor James D. Dana ..... 

Professor Benjamin Silliman .... 

The Right Reverend Samuel Seabury, D.D. . 

The Stage-Coach America ..... 

Chaise Belonging to Sheriff Ward of Worcester 

A Stage Notice at Hartford .... 

A Tavern Sign at Saybrook .... 

The Connecticut River Bridge (new) 

The Connecticut River Bridge (old) 

Jonathan Edwards ...... 

Laurel in Winchester ..... 

Birthplace of Jonathan Edwards, South Windsor 

Jonathan Trumbull ...... 

Silas Deane ....... 

General Israel Putnam 

Israel Putnam's Plow 

The Putnam Wolf Den, Pomfret 

Nathan Hale, a Bronze Statue in the Connecticut 
State Capitol ...... 



PAGE 
226 

230 

230 

234 
236 
236 
240 
254 
254 
258 
258 
262 
262 
266 
268 
268 
280 
284 
284 
286 
286 

288 



XV111 



Illustrations 



The Groton Monument Commemorating the Battle 
of September 6, 1781 

" Hospitality Hall, " Wethersfield . 

A View of Wethersfield from the Connecticut 
River ........ 



Roger Sherman . . . . . 

William Samuel Johnson, LL.D.. 

Samuel Huntington 

The Old Home of Roger Sherman, "The Signer" and 
First Mayor of New Haven .... 

Temple Street, New Haven .... 
A Yankee Tin Peddler ..... 
The Wethersfield Elm ..... 



290 
292 

292 
298 
304 
304 

308 
308 
310 
310 



First Page of First Copy of Connecticut "Courant" 312 

The Ruins of the Forge where the Anchor of the 

" Constitution " was Cast . . . . .314 



The Steamboat of John Fitch 



314 



Continental Currency. Originals in Connecticut 

State Library ....... 320 

Oliver Wolcott, Jr 35° 

Eli Terry 35$ 

Seth Thomas ........ 35$ 

Charles Goodyear . 3 6 ° 

Samuel Colt ........ 3 6 ° 



Illustrations 



XIX 



Eli Whitney .... 

First Church, Hartford . 

Henry Ward Beecher 

Roger S. Baldwin 

Governor William A. Buckingham 

General Alfred H. Terry 

General Joseph R. Hawley 

Major-General John Sedgwick 

General Nathaniel Lyon . 

Admiral Andrew H. Foote 

Gideon Welles .... 

Modern Steamboating on the River, 
Line" 

A Rare Sketch of Newgate Prison 

Convict Dining-Room at Meal Hour 
State Prison 

The Main Cavern 
F. H. Gallaudet 
Eli Todd . 
Horace Wells . 
Elihu Burritt . 
Fitz-Greene Halleck 
James G. Percival 
Dr. Horace Bushnell 



The Hartford 



at Connecticut 



PAGE 
362 

370 

374 
378 
380 
380 
382 
384 
384 
386 
386 

416 

438 

442 
442 
472 
472 
482 
482 
502 
502 
504 



XX 



Illustrations 



Harriet Beecher Stowe 
Charles Dudley Warner . 
Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain) 
Frederick E. Church 
John Trumbull .... 

The Athen/Eum and Morgan Memorial, Hartford 
The Old State House, Hartford, now City Hall 
Dudley Buck ....... 

Bear Mountain, Salisbury, 2354 Feet High 
The Connecticut State Flag .... 



MAPS 



Map of Connecticut 1758 



Map Showing the New York and Boston Post Road 
in Connecticut ....... 



PAGE 
506 

508 

5IO 

520 

520 

522 

522 

534 
546 
546 

24 



Map of Connecticut, 1914. 



. 250 
. at end 



A HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT 



A History of Connecticut 



CHAPTER I 
THE PREHISTORIC PERIOD 

CONNECTICUT extends on Long Island Sound a 
hundred miles, rises to an average height of a thou- 
sand feet at its northern line, and in the case of Bear Moun- 
tain in Salisbury, to the extreme height of two thousand 
three hundred and fifty-four feet. The eastern boundary is 
forty-five and the western seventy- two miles in extent, and 
within these modest limits lies one of the original thirteen 
colonies, busy, thrifty, inventive, and conservative. It is on 
the turnpike between empire states, — sharp for the best trade, 
keen for the main chance, laughed at for its steady habits, 
wooden nutmegs, peddlers, and Blue Laws; leaned on in 
times of national peril ; sought by tired nerves for its lovely 
valleys, whispering brooks, and radiant lakes. The eastern 
counties are sandy, stony, sometimes rocky and wild, but 
beautiful. The western parts are famous for their noble 
mountains, picturesque lakes, and entrancing scenery. The 
three main rivers and the streams which flow into them once 
abounded with salmon, shad, and trout. These streams are 
still beautiful, and are useful for steamboats, tugs, sailboats, 
power-boats, and for turning wheels to manufacture every- 
thing from a jackknife to an automobile. Varied is the wealth 
of Connecticut — forests, mountains, orchards, and meadows — 



2 A History of Connecticut 

and in their season there abound sweet and blushing peaches, 
spicy apples, delicious grapes, mammoth strawberries, the 
lowly potato, the rank tobacco, the crisp celery, the royal 
Indian corn, the courtly rye, and the graceful herd's grass. 

Searching for the foundation of this park-like state, we 
see beneath all else the ancient rocks — granite, quartz, feld- 
spar, found in abundance in the eastern and western counties, 
and sometimes cropping out elsewhere. Midway, the high- 
lands sink into a wide trough, in which are rocks of a 
later date, showing that a muddy valley once ran through 
the state into Massachusetts, and that over it sauntered 
in lazy promenade, or leaped in hungry pursuit of prey, 
huge reptiles and the terrible mastodon ; some of those foot- 
prints used to be called "Connecticut River bird-tracks," 
but it is now known that birds did not appear at that early 
period, and that the animals must have been reptiles. An 
interesting example of the monsters in Connecticut thou- 
sands of years ago was found in Farmington in August, 
I 9 I 3» by workmen digging on the shore of an ancient lake, 
whose mud bottom rests on glacial rock. It is a skeleton 
of a mastodon, which is supposed to have been eleven 
feet high and to have weighed about eight tons. Upon that 
weird scene a volcano rolled its molten lava, spreading 
over the beds of mud, hardening it into rock, after which 
there succeeded a long era of peace, with busy streams 
pouring in their tribute of sand and gravel. Then there 
occurred another volcanic outburst, and later still another, 
for there are in central Connecticut three sheets of volcanic 
trap, and sandwiched between them are beds of sand, clay, 
and gravel, long since hardened into rocks known as shale, 
sandstone, and conglomerate. The three fiery torrents 
killed the animals, preserving many of their tracks. Long 
after the rocks were laid, and the last lava stiffened, there 
were powerful earthquakes, which tilted the rocks. The 
latter, through the weathering of the ages, form the mountains 
we call Talcott, Hanging Hills of Meriden, Lamentation, 



THe Prehistoric Period 3 

Three Notches, and Pond Rock, in the long range from 
Mount Tom to the Sound. 

Then came the Glacial Age, whose vast sheet covered 
the land and moved heavily down mountain and hill, carry- 
ing bowlders for miles, grinding the surface of the rocks, 
leaving piles of sand here and there. All the rocks of the 
state show the results of the Glacial Age, but the clearest 
markings are in the trap ridges of the central parts, wherever 
the trap comes to the surface. The broken material torn 
off by the ice is found in the gravelly soil of the cultivated 
land, in the hills of gravel, and in the sandy bluffs along the 
rivers. Long Island is probably a terminal moraine, and 
Say brook rests on a glacial sand plain, as does the town of 
Essex, and a part of Norwich. In the central part of the 
state, the drift is mostly of trap, sandstone, or shale, but in 
the eastern and western sections the light-colored crystalline 
rocks and gravels are seen. 

The central valley, about twenty miles in width, is drained 
by the Connecticut as far south as Middletown, where 
the stream forces its way between two mountains, leaving the 
valley to reach the Sound at New Haven. This valley, 
the home of the first settlers, is of a deep, rich loam, until the 
river leaves it, after which it is sandy. The more broken 
country, often rugged and grand, in the eastern and western 
parts is less favorable for agriculture than are the central 
parts, but the rivers are powerful sources of wealth. 

Connecticut is well supplied with clay for bricks in New- 
ington, Windsor, North Haven, and elsewhere; its granite 
quarries are many and inexhaustible, its sandstone measures 
at Portland abundant, and its iron mines at Salisbury of 
great value, especially where toughness is required. It was 
a long, stiff discipline through which Connecticut passed to 
prepare for the coming days; she was wrenched, twisted, 
racked, pounded, frozen, washed and burned, but at length 
the sturdy foundation was laid for a resolute people and a 
vigorous history. 



CHAPTER II 
THE SETTLEMENT 

IT is well that this singularly favored tract with its varied 
wealth of building materials, soil, rivers, and harbors 
stayed in obscurity so long, until the seed of a highly developed 
civilization could be winnowed out of the gloomy and weari- 
some life of Europe. It was in 1614, that the clear waters 
of the Connecticut were first traversed by a keel steered 
by a pale-faced mariner. The first European visitor to 
Connecticut was the Dutch navigator, Adrian Blok, who, on 
his way through the Sound in his American-built yacht, the 
Restless, explored for sixty miles the river, which the Indians 
called "Quaneh-ta-cut," the long tidal river. It was spring- 
time, and forest and meadow were charming to the keen 
mariner ; few signs of life were seen until he reached Middle- 
town, where the Indians were numerous, and he learned 
that they were of the nation called Sequins; near Hartford 
he came to the country of the Nawaas, where "the natives 
plant maize," and their village was fortified to withstand 
the Pequots. Landing there, Blok parleyed with the 
Indians, and learned that natives from the upper parts of 
the river brought rich peltry in bark canoes. Then he 
sailed up-stream as far as Enfield Rapids, where he turned 
and went down to the Sound ; thence he continued eastward, 
taking note of the Thames and Montauk ; explored Narra- 
gansett Bay, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket; named 
Rhode Island the Red Island, from the color of the soil; 

4 




The Perched Glacial Bowlder at Taftville, Connecticut 

Reproduced from The Connecticut Quarterly, vol. iv., No. 3. (By permission) 




Glacial Striae, Summit Street, Hartford, Connecticut 

Reproduced from The Connecticut Quarterly vol. iv., No. 3. (By permission) 



THe Settlement 5 

glanced at Plymouth Rock, and entering Massachusetts 
Bay, went as far as Nahant. On his way back he fell in 
with another Dutch captain, Christaensen, in the Fortune, 
and turning over his vessel to another, Blok sailed for 
Holland, where so much interest was awakened that the 
Amsterdam Trading Company was formed; a map was 
made from Blok's data, and the whole matter was laid before 
the States-General, which gave the company a charter, and 
exclusive right to trade for four voyages during three years. 

Under that charter of 1 614, Dutch ships were soon sailing 
up and down the river, trading with the Indians, and for 
nearly eighteen years Amsterdam vessels were on the Con- 
necticut, which was unknown to the English until a Dutch 
captain from Manhattan, seeing the Pilgrims at Plymouth 
"seated in a barren quarter," shortsightedly told them of 
the rich valley Blok had discovered; said that it was a "fine 
place for plantation and trade," and wished them to make 
use of it. This was in 1627, and, the hands of the Pilgrims 
being full, the acceptance of the invitation was deferred for 
six years. In 1 631, some Mohican Indians visited Plymouth 
and urged the settlers to go to Connecticut, extolling it as 
a good place for plantation and trade; they wished to gain 
the help of the English in behalf of their chief, the able and 
unscrupulous Uncas, who was seeking the headship of the 
Pequots. 

Moved by these persuasions, in 1632, Edward Winslow 
went in a boat to the river, confirmed the statements of 
Dutch and Indians, and on his return went with Bradford 
to Boston to discuss a plan for a joint trading-post, but they 
received no encouragement. In September, 1633, a vessel 
was sent from Boston into the Connecticut, and John Old- 
ham with three others set out from Watertown overland 
to explore the river. Plymouth waited no longer, but 
equipped "a great new bark," in the hold of which was the 
frame of a house, with "boards to cover and finish it," and 
sent it forth under command of Captain William Holmes. 



6 .A. History of Connecticut 

When they reached the Connecticut, they were surprised 
to find the Dutch at Hartford in possession of a fort, on 
which were mounted two cannon. In the previous June, 
the Dutch bought of the Indians twenty acres, and called 
their fort the "House of Hope," on reaching which Holmes 
heard the drum-beats and saw the cannoneers beside the 
guns with lighted torches, under the banner of the Nether- 
lands. The commander, Jacob van Curler, bade Holmes 
"strike and stay," but the Plymouth captain appealed to 
his commission and went on. No shot was fired, and on 
reaching the point just below the mouth of the Farmington 
River September 26, 1633, they landed, quickly "clapt 
up" the house and soon had a palisade around it to protect 
against the Dutch and the far more dangerous Pequots. 

The Dutch in the House of Hope found their English 
neighbors disagreeable, but they stayed in their meager 
stronghold till 1654, in almost constant broils, their land 
invaded, workmen harassed, and claims challenged. They 
were "disgusted with a post so constantly insulted," the 
English denying the right of the Dutch to any land about 
the fort. Facing the question of Governor Hopkins, "Show 
your right and we are ready to exhibit ours," there was only 
one thing to do since the English were becoming so numerous. 
In 1636, the English secured deeds from Sequasson, the son 
of Soheag, "lord and rightful owner of the entire river and 
land thereabouts," and he testified in the Hartford Court 
that "he never sold any ground to the Dutch." A little 
later, the colony procured from Uncas, who, after the Pequot 
overthrow, was the all-powerful Mohican sagamore, "a 
clear and ample deed of all the lands in Connecticut, except 
the lands that were planted." The purchase money was in 
wampum, shoes, and trading-cloth. Boundaries were in- 
definite, especially when a distance was described as far as 
"one day's walk," and Connecticut carried out the advice 
of Sir William Boswell, English ambassador at The Hague, to 
"crowd on, crowding the Dutch out of those places which 



THe Settlement 7 

they have occupied, without hostility or any act of violence." 
Soon English and Dutch farmers came to blows; Evert 
Duyckink, a garrison man, while sowing grain was hit "a 
hole in his head with a sticke, so that the bloode ran downe 
very strongly, downe upon his body." Ground which 
the Dutch had made ready for seed was seized in the night 
and planted with corn by the English, and then held by 
them. At length, after countless irritations, retaliations, 
and negotiations, the English cold shoulder proved so stiff, 
and the English disposition so freezing, that in the April 
session of 1654, the Court at Hartford "ordered and declared 
that the Dutch Howse of Hope, with the lands, buildings 
and fences thereto belonging bee hereby sequestered." 
Captain John Underhill posted this notice on the doors of 
the House of Hope, "I, John Underhill, do seize this house 
and land for the State of England, by virtue of the commis- 
sion granted by the Providence Plantation." The Dutch 
were glad to leave a place which had become so uncomfort- 
able, and long ago the river wore away the last vestige of 
the fort, of which the only relic remaining is a tired-looking 
yellow Holland brick with the halves of two others, which 
are now among the relics of the Connecticut Historical 
Society at Hartford. 

We must now go back to the story of the settlers from 
Boston Bay. The people of Watertown, Dorchester, and 
Newtown (Cambridge) were growing restless under the 
Massachusetts authority, and the lure of Connecticut ap- 
pealed strongly. The master mind of this migration was 
Thomas Hooker, a man of majestic presence and powerful 
intellect, who had graduated at Cambridge at the age of 
twenty-two, and continued for a time in residence as a lec- 
turer, at a time when Laud was advancing to become Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, and the policy of "thorough" was 
developing. Hooker's disposition is seen in his unwilling- 
ness to accept a living, for which he would come under 
obligations to a bishop, and as an alternative he accepted a 



8 A History of Connecticut 

living of forty pounds, the gift of Francis Drake. Soon 
afterward he was appointed to a lectureship, a method of 
reaching the people when preaching fell into disuse. Laud 
said that lecturers were "the people's creatures" and "blew 
the bellows of sedition." Hooker's influence appears in a 
letter written to Laud's chancellor by a minister who said, 
"His genius will still haunt all the pulpits where any of his 
scholars may be admitted to preach. There be divers young 
ministers about us that spend their time in conference with 
him, and return home and preach what he hath brewed. 
Our people's pallets grow so out of tast, yt noe food contents 
them but of Mr. Hooker's dressing." The lectures were 
delivered on the market-days and Sunday afternoons, and 
on one occasion in the presence of the judges and before a 
large congregation, he "declared freely the sins of England, 
and the plagues that would come" for such sins. Mather 
quotes one as saying of him that "he was a person, who 
while doing his Master's work would put a king in his 
pocket." 

In 1629, Laud turned his attention to the lecturers, and 
among the first to feel the weight of his heavy hand was 
Thomas Hooker of Chelmsford, who was compelled to retire 
to a village four miles away, where he taught school in his 
house, and the next year he was cited to appear before the 
High Commission, but he escaped arrest, he went to 
Holland and, in 1633, we find him in Boston. Hooker's 
sister was wife of John Pym, who pleaded for the restoration 
of the Puritan clergy, but the opposition was too strong and 
Laud's influence was growing. The voyage was of eight 
weeks' duration, and the conversations must have been 
interesting, for besides Hooker was Samuel Stone, a lecturer, 
and later associate pastor with Hooker, and also John Cotton 
and John Haynes. Cotton stayed in Boston, while Hooker 
and Stone went to Cambridge. On October II, 1633, 
Hooker was chosen pastor and Stone teacher, and Hubbard 
says that "after Mr. Hooker's coming over, it was noticed 



THe Settlement 9 

that many of the freemen grew to be very jealous of their 
liberties." Cambridge was prospering with its hundred 
families; its tax was as large as that of Boston, and John 
Haynes was chosen governor in 1635, but an uneasiness 
arose. The town "complained of straitness for want of 
land, especially meadow." Enlargements were granted to 
include what is now Brighton, Brookline, Newton, and 
Arlington, but the uneasiness continued. Hubbard, who 
lived within fifty years of these events, says that other motives 
did "more secretly and powerfully drive on the business. 
Two such eminent stars as were Mr. Cotton and Mr. Hooker, 
both of the first magnitude, could not continue in one and 
the same orb." In a letter written to John Wilson, a writer 
says that he heard "that ther is great diusion of judgment 
in matters of religion amongst good ministers and people 
which moued Mr. Hoker to remoue." He also wrote: 
" You are so strict in admission of members to your church, 
that more than half are out of your church . . . and that 
Mr. Hoker, befor he went away, preached against yt." John 
Winthrop, the grave, scholarly and deeply religious Moses 
of the Puritan migration to America, found John Cotton, 
his gifted minister, an able yoke-fellow in the position that it 
would be calamitous to allow any one who was not a 
member of the Congregational Church to vote or hold office. 
This combination of the aristocratic and the political was 
not popular in some of the towns. Samuel Stone said it was 
a "speaking aristocracy in the face of a silent democracy." 

The number of freemen had increased so rapidly that in 
1630, they could not all meet in one place to transact busi- 
ness, and a board of assistants was appointed to choose the 
governor and make laws, and in May, 1631, it was further 
decided that the assistants need not be chosen every year, 
but might keep their seats during good behavior, or until 
set aside by the vote of the freemen. This was not agree- 
able to Cambridge, Watertown and Dorchester, and they 
sent a deputation to Boston to inspect the charter, to see 



io A. History of Connecticut 

if such power was authorized by it. The method of electing 
assistants was changed, but Cotton was ever strenuous in a 
position, in which he had with him a majority of the ministers, 
that democracy was no fit government either for church or 
commonwealth. Chief in opposition was Hooker, who 
maintained against the proposition that "the best part is 
always the least, and of the best part the wiser is always the 
lesser," that "in matters of greater consequence, which 
concern the common Good a General Council, chosen by all 
to transact businesses which concern all, I conceive, under 
favor most suitable to rule, and most safe for relief of the 
whole." 

It appears thus that the motives leading to the migra- 
tion were political, democratic, and commercial, for there 
were many who preferred a more popular basis for the govern- 
ment than that which prevailed at Boston Bay, where the 
right to vote was so strictly guarded that only one man in 
six had suffrage. Land hunger also impelled many, not so 
much through lack of pasturage, of which there was suffi- 
cient in eastern Massachusetts, but the fertility of the 
Connecticut valley appealed strongly to the enterprising. 
Although theoretically there was scanty place for freedom in 
Massachusetts, especially for extremists like Mrs. Hutchin- 
son, Roger Williams, and the Quakers, the actual condition 
was not as trying as one might think for most people, because 
of the sturdy common sense of the settlers, who demanded 
much liberty of discussion. The towns of Cambridge, Water- 
town, and Dorchester (together with Roxbury, which settled 
Springfield) developed a more energetic local self-govern- 
ment than elsewhere, and in 1631 , Dorchester and Watertown 
led the way in organizing town government by selectmen. 
In that year a tax of sixty pounds was assessed upon the 
settlements to pay for building frontier fortifications in 
Cambridge, and the inhabitants of Watertown at first 
declined to pay their share of this tax, on the ground that 
English freemen cannot rightfully be taxed, save by their 



THe Settlement II 

consent, a protest which led to a change in the constitution 
of the colony. In view of these facts it is not strange that 
in May, 1634, the congregation at Cambridge petitioned 
the General Court for permission to move to some other 
quarter within Massachusetts. The petition was granted, 
and messengers were sent to Ipswich and Merrimac to 
look for a location, but after the invitation of the Indians 
on the Connecticut, a petition was presented to the Court 
in September for leave to go outside Massachusetts, and it 
was rejected by the assistants, though the deputies favored 
it. In the spring of 1635, some of the Watertown and Dor- 
chester people were more successful with their application, 
and it was voted to allow them to go, provided that they 
continued under the Massachusetts authority. 

We have given an account of the building of a trading house 
at Windsor in September, 1633; in the autumn of 1634, ten 
householders and planters, called "Adventurers," including 
the venturesome and trying pioneer, John Oldham, settled 
at Pyquag, or Wethersfield; building huts they broke 
the land and sowed some rye, thus starting agricultural life 
on the Connecticut, and during the following May about 
thirty more took up land there. In 1635, Windsor received 
the first installment from Dorchester, and a company direct 
from England. In October, some sixty men, women, and 
children, driving before them cows, horses, and swine, set 
out by land and reached the Connecticut "after a tedious 
and difficult journey," but the river froze over by November 
15, and the vessel that carried provisions for the winter 
for the colonists was stayed at Saybrook. Fearing starva- 
tion, most of the settlers went to the mouth of the river, 
loosened a sloop from the ice, and returned to Boston. 
When the spring came many Cambridge people sold their 
lands on the Charles River, and in June, 1636, a large 
number of people took the "old Connecticut path," through 
Waltham, Framingham, Dudley, and Woodstock, the path 
over which Oldham went three years before, "lodging 



12 j\ History of Connecticut 

in Indian towns all the way." It was not an imposing- 
looking procession: men, women, and children on foot, 
though, because of ill health, Mrs. Hooker was carried in a 
litter; the only band of music that attended it was the 
lowing of a hundred and sixty cattle and the squealing of 
the pigs; but the presence of Hooker, Haynes, Stone, and 
Bull gave dignity to this movement of American democracy. 
Through the summer of 1636, people traveled to Connecti- 
cut, and almost daily a few would take up land and build 
their houses. Fever for change also seized some of the 
Roxbury people, and Agawam, or Springfield, was settled 
by a company of people under the leadership of William 
Pynchon. 

The site of Hartford was deeded by Sachem Sequasson to 
Samuel Stone, William Goodwin and others, and while the 
original deed of 1636, was lost, a deed confirming the first 
and extending the original grant westward, executed by the 
heirs of Sequasson, is recorded in the Hartford Land Records. 
The settlers were known as proprietors, and to every one were 
allotted a house lot, a piece of meadow land and a wood lot; 
the ^remainder of the land was called the Town Commons. 
These lots were not recorded until October 10, 1639, when 
the General Court ordered that the three towns should 
provide a "ledger Booke, with an index or alphabett unto 
the same : Also shall choose one who shall be a Towne Clerke 
or Register, who shall . . . record every man's house and 
land already graunted and measured out to him." This 
book, known as the Book of Distribution, is the first book of 
land records in the town clerk's office in Hartford. Here is 
a sample entry: "Severall parsilles of land in Hartford upon 
the River of Coneckticott belonging to John Steele, Sinor, 
and to his heirs forever. Viz : One parsill on which his now 
dwelling house standeth with other outt houses, yardes and 
gardins." The name of Hartford at first was Newe Towne, 
but within a y%ar it was changed, since Stone and many 
other settlers were from Hertford, England, and the capital 



THe Settlement 13 

of Connecticut was called "Harteford Towne. And like- 
wise the plantacon nowe called Watertowne shall be called 
Wythersfield, and the plantacon called Dorchester shall be 
called Windsor." There are two landmarks remaining 
from the earliest times: the graveyard back of the First 
Church, where many of the famous settlers were buried, 
and the well of Thomas Hooker, still in use in a foundry on 
Arch Street. 

The coming of the Dorchester people to the neighborhood 
of the Plymouth fort at Windsor gave the Pilgrims there no 
little uneasiness in the spring of 1635, and Jonathan Brew- 
ster, in a letter from the fort in July, tells of the daily arrival 
by land and water of small parties of settlers. At length 
these newcomers, headed by Roger Ludlow, one of the ablest 
and richest men in Massachusetts, claiming that the land 
was theirs as the "Lord's waste" by "the Providence of 
God," moved into the midst of the Plymouth people, who 
protested against the Dorchester settlement on the Plymouth 
Great Meadow. As the Plymouth men had ignored the 
claims of the Dutch, so now the Dorchester people ignored 
the Pilgrim claims to the property, and proposed to allow the 
Plymouth people only one share, "as to a single family." 
A protest against the Dorchester intrusion was reported 
by Brewster at Plymouth, and Bradford entered his objec- 
tion, contending that it was an attempt to "thrust them all 
out." Winslow went from Plymouth to Boston and had a 
fruitless conference with the Dorchester leaders. The 
negotiations with the Bay magistrates came to nothing. 
"Many were the letters and passages" that were indulged 
in by the sturdy combatants. Pious phrases and greedy 
purposes furnish interesting reading. Both appealed to 
God's good providence, and while Plymouth had the better 
argument, Dorchester had the greater power. The Ply- 
mouth men would not resort to arms, as it was "far from 
their thoughts to live in continual contention with their 
friends and brethren, though they conceived that they suf- 



14 -A. History of Connecticut 

fered much in the thing"; accordingly they entered into a 
treaty, insisting only that the Dorchester people should 
acknowledge their rights to the territory. "After much 
ado," the Plymouth house was retained by the Plymouth 
men with a sixteenth of all the land bought of the Indians, 
and the project of abandoning the "barren place" on 
Plymouth sands was given up. 

While these settlements were forming on the river, 
steps were being taken to secure the mouth of it. There 
arrived at Boston on October 5, 1635, the ship Abigail, bring- 
ing among her passengers three men of note, representing 
the Lords and Gentlemen. These were John Winthrop, Jr., 
Sir Harry Vane, and Rev. Hugh Peters. Winthrop bore 
a commission from the Lords and Gentlemen, dated July 
J 5> J 635, and this commission named the bearer "Governor 
of the River Connecticut, with the places adjoining there 
unto, for and during the space of one whole year, after the 
arrival there," with "full power to do and execute any such 
lawful thing ... as to the dignity or office of a governor 
doth or may appertain." Learning that the Dutch were 
bent on gaining the same place, twenty men went to the 
river and soon a fort was erected by Lyon Gardener, an 
expert military engineer, who had seen service in the Nether- 
lands, near the point where Hans den Sluys had affixed the 
Dutch arms to a tree two years before. Hardly had the 
English mounted two cannon, when a Dutch vessel appeared, 
but finding the place occupied it returned to New Amster- 
dam. Winthrop was a superb leader of an enterprise which 
was designed to establish a home for some of the English 
gentry and plain folks after the persecution of the Puritans 
by the royal government had reached its height. Gardener 
was an able officer and skillful in laying out the town. He 
was just in his dealings with the Indians, whose prowess he 
did not slight, and whose cruelty he understood. When 
some Bay men spoke lightly of the Indian arrows, Gardener 
sent them a dead man's rib, with an arrowhead, which had 



THe Settlement 15 

gone through the body, and stuck so fast that no one could 
draw it out. An effort was made to persuade the English 
up river to acknowledge Governor Winthrop of Saybrook, 
and though the appeal was skillfully and courteously made, 
the "loving resolutions," which the politicians at the mouth 
of the river longed for, never floated down stream, the 
question being adroitly evaded or quietly ignored. The 
Hooker and Haynes contingent "carved largely for them- 
selves." George Fen wick went to Saybrook in the summer 
of 1635, while Winthrop was in control, and three years 
later he returned with more parade, two vessels, and wife 
and family. His home on Saybrook Point was described, 
in 1 64 1, as a "faire house" well fortified. With the Fen- 
wicks was John Higginson, a young minister who was 
chaplain, and after his death at ninety-three, his eulogist 
sang: 

Young to the pulpit he did get, 

And seventy-two years in 't did sweat. 

Fenwick maintained his independent state till the end of 
1644, when he ceded his possessions to the up-river colony, 
with the jurisdiction of all the territory claimed under the 
Lords and Gentlemen's patent, on condition of a tribute for 
ten years of certain duties on corn, biscuit, beaver-skins, and 
live stock exported from the river, and while the carrying 
out of this agreement brought Connecticut into conflict 
with Massachusetts over the question of taxing Springfield, 
the question was decided by the commissioners of the colonies 
in favor of Connecticut, which continued the tax for ten 
years. 

In 1643, Winthrop was admitted to the first conference 
to form the New England Union, and as that body recognized 
only four colonies, Plymouth, Massachusetts, Connecticut, 
and New Haven, Connecticut wisely appointed him one 
of her commissioners in 1643, and 1644, with Edward Hop- 
kins as the other. Fenwick was as closely identified with 



16 A. History of Connecticut 

Connecticut as he could be, and he rendered an important 
service to Connecticut, when Massachusetts laid claim to 
the Pequot country after the war with the Indians. He 
interposed a protest against any decision in 1644, which 
would impeach his principal's title, and thus gained time 
for the Connecticut Colony to secure a stronger hold on the 
conquered lands; with the conclusion of the agreement 
of 1644, Say brook became a Connecticut township. 



CHAPTER III 
SETTLEMENT CONCLUDED 

FIVE years after the colonists began to build their log 
houses on the Connecticut, another settlement started 
on the Sound at Quinnipiac, or New Haven, under the leader- 
ship of Theophilus Eaton, Edward Hopkins, John Daven- 
port, and several other well-to-do and most serious men. 
Massachusetts authorities made every effort to persuade 
these desirable emigrants to tarry there; Charlestown mak- 
ing them large offers, and Newbury proposing to give up 
the whole town to them ; the General Court promising them 
any place they might choose. But this friendliness did 
not persuade them, and after a stay of nine months, they 
chose to have a colony after their own ideas. Resulting 
from the Pequot war was the discovery of land west of Say- 
brook, and in the autumn of 1637, Theophilus Eaton and 
others explored the region; so well pleased were they 
that in March, 1638, a company settled at New Haven, 
and on April 18, they kept their first Sunday there, 
gathering under an oak to listen to John Davenport, their 
minister. 

A leading reason for the settlement was to be away from 
the general government of New England should there be 
any, and also because there were so many able men in office 
in Massachusetts that newcomers had scanty opportunity 
to build a state after their own ideas. On reaching New 
Haven, the wealthy leaders, accustomed to elegant houses 
2 17 



18 .A History of Connecticut 

in London, put up elaborate homes; Governor Eaton built 
one on Elm Street, large enough to contain nineteen fire- 
places, and Davenport's opposite is said to have had thirteen 
fireplaces. 

Determined to establish the colony according to the 
Scriptures, a meeting was called soon after the arrival, and 
at the close of a day of fasting and prayer they made a 
"Plantation Covenant," in which they solemnly bound 
themselves "that, as in matters that concern the gathering 
and ordering of a church, so also in all public offices, which 
concern civil order, as choice of magistrates and officers, 
making and repealing laws, dividing allotment of inheritance, 
and all other things of like nature, they would all of them 
be ordered by the rules which the Scriptures held forth to 
them." This was the general platform on which all were 
to stand, until they could elaborate the details of state. It 
was a backward spring, and corn rotted in the ground, but 
at length warm weather came and the crops were generous. 
The purpose was to have an extensive colony, and if possible 
to keep on friendly terms with the Indians. On November 
24, 1638, they bought of Momaguin, the sole sachem of the 
region, a large tract, paying for it twelve coats of English 
cloth, twelve brass spoons, twelve hatchets, twenty-four 
knives, twelve porringers, and four cases of French knives 
and scissors. In December, they bought a tract ten by 
thirteen miles, north of the former, a tract which now in- 
cludes parts of New Haven, Branford, Wallingford, East 
Haven, Woodbridge, Cheshire, Hampden, and North Haven. 
For the second lot the payment was thirteen coats, with 
liberty granted to the Indians to hunt within the lands. 
In the summer of 1639, they met in Robert Newman's 
barn, and in a formal way laid the foundations of their 
permanent government. It was on June 4, that the free 
planters gathered, and Davenport preached from the text, 
"Wisdom hath builded her house; she hath hewn out her 
seven pillars," and from this he gathered that the church 




Rev. John Davenport (1598-1670J 

From an Old Copper Print 



Settlement Concluded 19 

should be formed of seven principal men. He proposed a 
series of propositions, and Robert Newman was asked to 
"write in characters, and to read distinctly and audibly," 
six questions, which were discussed, and the results were 
adopted "by holding up their hands." The following reso- 
lutions which were subscribed and signed by the one hundred 
and eleven present, were the fundamental articles of New 
Haven Colony. 

I. That the Scriptures give a perfect rule for direction 
and government of church, family, and commonwealth. 

II. That churches, public offices, magistrates, making 
and repealing laws, and inheriting of property should be 
governed by Scripture rules. 

III. That all who had come into the plantation had 
done so with the purpose of being church members. 

IV. That all free planters bound themselves to establish 
such civil order as might best secure peace and purity to 
themselves and posterity, according to God. 

V. That church members only should be free burgesses ; 
and that they should choose magistrates among themselves 
to transact all public business, make and repeal laws, divide 
inheritances, decide difficulties, and attend to all else of a 
like nature. 

VI. That twelve men should be chosen to select seven 
to begin the church. 

A solemn charge or oath to give to all freemen was drawn, 
and it was ordered that all candidates for citizenship in the 
colony should subscribe to the foregoing agreement. After 
due term of trial, Theophilus Eaton, John Davenport, 
Robert Newman, Matthew Gilbert, Thomas Fugill, John 
Punderson, and Jeremiah Dixon were chosen to be the seven 
pillars of the church, and they proceeded to organize church 
and state. They first set up the church by associating 
with themselves nine others, and on October 25, 1639, they 
held a court at which those sixteen men elected Theophilus 
Eaton as governor for a year and four others to aid him as 



20 A. History of Connecticut 

deputies; those officers were addressed by John Davenport 
in what was called a charge. There were no statute laws 
for many years, and for the time the only restriction on 
the rulers was the rules of the Mosaic law. The body of 
free burgesses was cautiously enlarged. This government 
of New Haven disfranchised more than half of the settlers, 
and the laws afterward enacted gradually brought the 
government into close resemblance to that of Massachusetts. 
The next half-century saw the settlement of twenty-five 
other towns, three of which began in 1639 — Guilford, Mil- 
ford, and Stratford. The people of New Haven were hardly 
established before Guilford, sixteen miles east of New Haven, 
was settled in August by a company of forty planters from 
Surrey and Kent ; they had left England in full sympathy with 
Davenport, and formed their government on seven pillars, 
with Henry Whitfield and Samuel Desborough as leaders. 
The first town to settle on the Housatonic was Milford, whose 
Moses and Aaron were Peter Prudden and William Fowler. 
They chose their seven pillars and formed their government 
after the New Haven model, except that they admitted six 
planters who were not church members. Their land was 
purchased by four men who went in advance of the rest and 
purchased a tract two miles long, paying six coats, ten 
blankets, one kettle, and a number of hoes, knives, hatchets, 
and glasses. The settlers in Milford came from Essex and 
York, with the addition of a few who had been unhappy in 
Wethersfield — forty-four in all. The Stratford lands were 
purchased in 1639, settlement made at once, and in 
1673, after a church quarrel, about fifteen families, consti- 
tuting half the congregation, taking their minister, settled 
in Woodbury. In the political isolation of these towns we 
see the principle of church independence advocated by 
Davenport and his followers. Branford was purchased in 
December, 1638, by the New Haven colonists, a few days 
after they had bought New Haven, and in 1644, a tract of 
this land was sold to William Swaim and others for some 




The Old Home of Hon. John Webster, Fifth Governor of 
Connecticut, at Hartford 




A Typical Chain Ferry 



Settlement Concluded 21 

people in Wether sfield, who wished to move; and at the 
same time with the coming of the Wethersfield people, 
Abraham Pierson appeared on the ground with a part of 
the church and congregation of Southampton, Long Island, 
and a church was formed with Pierson as minister, but they 
soon became discontented with the New Haven style of 
government and moved to Newark, New Jersey, a migration 
in which Milford, New Haven, and Guilford had a prominent 
part. Another ancient town, Fairfield, is in the territory dis- 
covered when the troops were in pursuit of the Pequots in 
1637. Roger Ludlow, who was with the troops when they 
went to the great swamp in the town, was so well pleased 
with the fine land in the vicinity, he planned a settlement, 
and, in 1639, he, with eight or nine families of Windsor, began 
the settlement of Fairfield, being reinforced in a short time 
by pioneers from Watertown and Concord. 

Greenwich was bought of the Indians in 1640, and was 
under the Dutch government for several years, which was 
unfortunate for the settlement as the Dutch were hostile 
to the Indians, and the settlers were in consequence exposed 
to dangers. The year 1640, also saw the purchase of land 
on Long Island and the beginning of Southold. In 1641, 
Rippowams or Stamford was purchased for twelve coats 
and as many hoes, hatchets, and knives, together with two 
kettles and four fathoms of white wampum; some of the 
settlers coming from Wethersfield, under the leadership of 
Rev. Richard Denton. 

In April, 1643, fear of the Indians and of the Dutch 
caused a union of New Haven, Guilford, Milford and Stam- 
ford, and this confederacy became a member of the larger 
confederation of New England, which formed that year. In 
October, 1643, a constitution was agreed upon, which limited 
suffrage to church members and established three courts — 
the Plantation Court for small cases, consisting of "fitt and 
able" men in each town; the Court of Magistrates, consisting 
of the governor and three assistants for weighty cases; and 



22 j\ History of Connecticut 

the General Court, consisting of the magistrates and two 
deputies for each of the four towns, and this was to sit in 
New Haven twice a year, to make laws and annually elect 
magistrates. As trial by jury was not found in the Mosaic 
law it was dispensed with. In 1649, Southold, in 1651, 
Branford, and in 1656, Greenwich were admitted to the New 
Haven Confederacy. These seven towns — New Haven, 
Guilford, Milford, Stamford, Southold, Branford, and Green- 
wich — -were the only towns that ever belonged to the New 
Haven Confederacy. Knowing that they were not to be far 
from Massachusetts, Eaton and Davenport had not brought 
a military officer, but while at the Bay they discovered a 
valuable man who had been in the Pequot war, Captain 
Turner, whom they persuaded to attend the expedition to 
Quinnipiac, and on November 25, 1639, thirty days after 
the organization of the court, it was 

ordered that every one that bears arms shall be completely 
furnished with arms; viz., a musket, a sword, bandoleers, a rest, 
a pound of powder, twenty bullets fitted to the musket, or four 
pounds of pistol-shot or swan-shot at least, and be ready to 
show them in the market-place, before Capt. Turner, under 
the penalty of twenty shillings fine for every default or absence. 

Attracted by the fertile meadows ten miles to the west, 
settlers from Hartford went over the mountain ridge and 
laid out a beautiful town on the banks of the Tunxis River, 
buying lands of the Indians, and in 1640, Farmington was 
incorporated ; people from Boston, Cambridge, and Roxbury 
taking part in the enterprise. In 1646, New London was 
settled, and two years later more than forty persons joined 
those who were there, and among them was John Winthrop, 
Jr. The next town to organize was Stonington, which was 
settled in 1649, under the leadership of William Cheesborough, 
a member of the Plymouth Colony. It was at first a part 
of Massachusetts and was named Southerton; in 1662, it 
became a part of Connecticut, and was named Stonington. 



Settlement Concluded 23 

Norwalk was settled in 1649, and incorporated in 165 1. A 
committee was appointed in March, 1650, to explore Matta- 
besett, and it reported that fifteen families might get a 
living there, and in November, 1653, planters from Wethers- 
field, Hartford, and England established the settlement of 
Middletown. The center of every one of these plantations 
was the meeting-house, which was built after about the 
same style and composed of wood (except in Guilford where 
stone was used), and the one in New Haven was fifty feet 
square, with a roof like a pyramid, ending in a tower and 
turret. There were also "banisters and rails on the meeting- 
house top, whence the drummer could summon the people 
on the Sabbath or when Indians attacked the town." 

Preparations for the settlement of Norwich began in 
Saybrook as early as 1654, under the leadership of the famous 
and martial Captain John Mason, with whom were associ- 
ated thirty-four others. Mason had been the friend and 
adviser of the wily Uncas for twenty-four years, and having 
frequently visited him, was thoroughly acquainted with the 
country, and it was doubtless by Mason's influence that 
Uncas and his two sons appeared at Saybrook in June, 1659, 
and signed a deed of conveyance, which gave the company 
of thirty-five proprietors a title to a tract of land of nine 
square miles at Mohican. There was another reason, for 
in 1645, Uncas was closely besieged by the Narragansetts, 
and Captain Mason, who was in command at the Saybrook 
fort, sent a boat-load of beef, corn, and peas by night, under 
the command of Thomas Lefrmgwell, and Uncas never 
forgot the favor. Seventy pounds was the price for the 
land, and since Connecticut had bought it before and paid 
for it, the English were more than fair with the Indians. 
Mason was then commissioned by the legislature to buy the 
rest of the Mohican country, which he did, and a deed of 
cession was signed in August, 1659, and in the following 
November, a few settlers made their way to the new town 
and spent the winter there. The Mohicans assisted them 



24 A History of Connecticut 

in carrying their goods, and soon the town was laid out. 
The earliest act recorded on the town book was on December 
II, 1660, and the name Norwich was given to the place about 
1662. The settlers were the church of Rev. James Fitch 
of Say brook, and the minister was a leading spirit in the 
enterprise. There was much trouble and litigation in later 
years between the settlers and the Indians over the title to 
the lands, since it was claimed that Uncas had made over the 
title to the lands to Mason to secure them to his tribe, of 
which Mason was the guardian. One phase of this was the 
act of Mason in 1671, in making over to the tribe a tract of 
more than four thousand acres, usually called the sequestered 
lands. But disputes continued for seventy years over the 
lands occupied by settlers in Colchester, Windham, Mans- 
field, Hebron, and some other towns, and it was not until 
1743, that the case was settled by a decision to refer the 
matter to the king in council. The final decision was 
given in 1767, and it was against the Mohicans, who soon 
faded away. The same year of the settlement of Norwich, 
1660, Sufneld was settled, the land having been bought of 
two sachems for one hundred dollars. 

There is a curious story about Lyme, which was settled 
about 1664, taking at first the name of East Saybrook, that 
in a controversy with New London over the ownership of a 
tract of land claimed by both Lyme and its neighbor, it was 
decided to settle the difficulty by a fight with fists by two 
champions of the towns rather than to go to the expense of 
an application to the legislature, and as the advantage was 
with Lyme, it took possession of the land. 

The river towns are the mothers of eleven daughters: 
Windsor of five — East Windsor, South Windsor, Simsbury, 
Ellington, and Windsor Locks; Hartford of three — East 
Hartford, West Hartford, and Manchester; Wethersfield 
of three — Glastonbury, Rocky Hill, and Newington. In 
1662, Windsor began to overflow into East Windsor; 
the same year the lands forming Haddam and East 



Settlement Concluded 25 

Haddam were bought for thirty coats, worth perhaps a 
hundred dollars, being soon taken up by twenty-eight 
young men, mostly from Windsor, Hartford, and Wethers- 
field, and Haddam was incorporated in 1668. In 1663, 
the legislature approved of a proposition for a town in 
what is now Killingworth, and twelve planters from Hart- 
ford, Windsor, and Guilford moved into it at .once, liv- 
ing on friendly terms with the Indians. In the process of 
filling in around the older towns, land west of Windsor was 
bought of the Indians in 1670, and the town of Simsbury 
settled, though six years later, the inhabitants, alarmed by 
the hostility of the Indians, buried their goods and went 
back to Windsor, and the savages destroyed every vestige of 
improvement so completely that on the return of the settlers 
they could scarcely find their property. As we have seen, 
in 1638, "New Haven village" was purchased, and it was 
not until 1670, that it was settled, and then it was called 
Wallingford, and four years later it received its own minister. 
In 1672, the legislature granted liberty to William Curtis 
and others to make a plantation at Pomeraug; two years 
later, the settlement was constituted a town with the name 
of Woodbury, and Southbury was settled the same year. In 
1673, a number of the inhabitants of Farmington obtained 
permission of the legislature to investigate the lands on the 
Naugatuck, then called Mattatuck, now Waterbury; the dis- 
tresses of King Philip's war delayed the purchase and settle- 
ment, but in 1677, there were a few temporary huts on the 
east bank of the river, and in 1686, it was incorporated and 
the name changed to Waterbury. The settlement of Dan- 
bury, one of the county seats of Fairfield County, began in 
1683. In 1675, Joshua, son of Uncas, the Mohican sachem, 
gave by will to Captain John Mason and fifteen others the 
tract containing Windham, Mansfield, and Canterbury, and 
in May, 1686, the main streets of Windham were laid out. 
In 1659, Governor Winthrop obtained permission of the 
legislature to buy a large tract of land, which in 1689, was 



26 -A. History of Connecticut 

sold to people from Massachusetts, who settled Plainfield, 
and lived on friendly terms with the numerous Indians in 
the neighborhood. 

The organization of the towns stimulated vigor and 
individuality, furnishing a bulwark of singular pertinacity, 
and one method of strengthening this was the giving so many 
people something to do in public affairs. Every town had 
two or more townsmen, or, as they came to be called toward 
the end of the seventeenth century, selectmen, also justices 
of the peace, constables, town clerk, treasurer, highway 
surveyors — sometimes to the number of twenty, fence- view- 
ers, listers, collectors of taxes, leather-sealers, grand jurors, 
tithing-men, hay wards, or guardians of the boundaries, 
chimney-viewers, gaugers, packers, sealers of weights and 
measures, key-keepers, recorders of sheep marks, branders 
of horses, and others. These offices gave more or less of 
influence and authority, and a little salary to many men. 
II the oldest office in the town was the constable, the oldest 
institution was the pound, which is said to be older than the 
kingdom in the history of England. Before the community 
was recognized as a civic or religious unit, the settlers were 
given permission to "make and maintain a pound," some- 
times without conditions, sometimes subject to the approval 
of the town from which the settlement was made. The 
next step was often a request for "winter privileges," with 
a remission of one half of the ministerial taxes ; this was the 
case where the settlement was six or eight miles from the 
center. Sometimes the "liberty of a minister" was asked 
for at first, and sometimes, when the call was made for a 
pound there was also a petition for a separate church. Then 
followed the incorporation of the society by a charter from 
the legislature, following which was election of officers. 
Glastonbury stepped at once into the possession of the full 
privileges of a town. Towns were less republican than now, 
more overshadowed by the General Court, and questions 
regarding religious differences, choice of sites for meeting- 



Settlement Concluded 27 

houses, organization of ministers, and settlement of ministers 
were decided by the legislature, with or without the request 
of the town. In the first sixty years it was easy to obtain 
permission to form a new town, but later on it was differ- 
ent, and some towns petitioned years for the privileges 
of incorporation. The settlement of the commonwealth 
was promoted by the coming of many settlers from England 
during the disturbances of the Puritan uprising, as well as 
by church quarrels and Anglo-Saxon enterprise. 



CHAPTER IV 
THE INDIANS 

ONE of the most powerful influences affecting the early life 
of the settlers was that of the aborigines, the Indians, 
who belonged to the Algonkin stock, members of which 
were found from Labrador to South Carolina; King Philip, 
Powhatan, Pocahontas, and Black Hawk, who have appealed 
most to our novelists and dramatists, were all of Algonkin 
lineage. It is believed that widespread pestilences had 
carried off many of the natives, so that the process of taking 
possession of the country was less difficult than it would 
have been a few years earlier. It was trying enough as 
it was, for the Indians were swift, wary, cruel in war, 
shrewd in council, ingenious and skillful with their devices. 
The name Connecticut is the same as the name of the Indi- 
ans dwelling on its banks, and it vividly reminds us of the 
tribal title of the people, whose rude faces looked on the 
first boat-load of settlers ascending the river. It is pure 
guesswork to try to estimate the number of the Connecticut 
Indians. There is evidence that the Pequots could muster 
six hundred warriors, and it is probable that they were as 
numerous as all the other tribes of Connecticut combined. 
The Quinnipiacs extended along the shore from Milford to 
Madison, holding the bay of New Haven and the little 
rivers that empty into it as fishing-places. Yet when they 
sold their country in 1638, to Davenport and his associates, 
they could state that the number of men of their tribe was 

28 



XHe Indians 29 

only forty-seven, their total population being but two hun- 
dred souls. The sea-coast was the most thickly peopled, and 
next to this the river courses, on account of the fishing. 
The Paugussetts, who inhabited Stratford, Huntington, 
and the surrounding townships, and the Wepawaugs, who 
lived opposite them on the east bank of the Housatonics, 
were similar people, and were not very numerous. Litch- 
field County, the northern part of Fairfield County, and 
the western part of Hartford County were an uninhabited 
wilderness. On the Farmington River, ten miles west of 
Hartford, lived a small tribe, the Tunxis Indians, who, 
according to tradition, had been conquered some years 
before by the Stockbridge Indians. There was evidently 
a considerable tribe in the vicinity of Hartford, or it may 
have been a confederacy, as some of the same names are 
found attached to deeds in the town records from Windsor 
to Middletown. They embraced the bands that Blok in 
1614, described as the "nation called the Sequins," with 
lodges on both sides of the river at or above the great bend 
at Middletown, and also the Nawaas with their fortified 
town at South Windsor. The capital of the Sequins, or 
Wangunks as they were afterwards called, was Middletown, 
and their chieftain Sowheag sold Wethersfield to the settlers. 
Allied with him was Sequasson, sachem of Hartford. In 
East Hartford and East Windsor lived the Podunks. There 
was a small clan in Haddam and East Haddam, much given 
to religious ceremonies, and who "drove a prodigious trade at 
worshiping the devil," being aided in their superstitious 
ceremonies by the earthquake shocks, or whatever else it 
was — the famous "Moodus noises" — prevailing in early 
times. Tolland and Windham counties had a scattered 
population of Nipmucks, who were peculiarly degraded and 
repulsive. 

The Pequots, the most numerous, the fiercest, the brav- 
est of all the tribes of Connecticut, had two forts at Mystic, 
but their wigwams extended for miles along the stony hills 



30 .A History of Connecticut 

of New London County, a district of about five hundred 
square miles; their northernmost community, the Mohicans, 
living on the Thames where Norwich and the neighboring 
towns are now. Pequots and Mohicans were of the same race 
as the Hudson River Mohicans, and not much before 1600, 
it is supposed that they abandoned their lodges on the 
Hudson and fought their way into southeastern Connecticut, 
killing and driving out the Indians there, going by way of 
Massachusetts, as Pequot traditions agree in asserting that 
they migrated from the north shortly before the arrival of 
the English. It is probable that the predecessors of the 
Pequots and Mohicans were of the same family as the 
Narragansetts ; and since the Niantics of Lyme were con- 
nected with the Niantics of Rhode Island, and Sequasson, 
chief of Farmington and Connecticut River countries, was a 
connection of the Narragansett sachems, and the Indians 
of Windsor were closely united to the Wepawaugs of Milford, 
it appears reasonable that before the Pequots came upon 
the scene, the Rhode Island and Connecticut Indians were 
of one great family or confederation. 

The interloping Pequots found themselves in a large and 
attractive country, furnishing ample food supply, and their 
fierce war parties swept into the Narragansett country on 
the east; and thrice their armies came into collision with 
Sequasson, the most powerful of the sachems of central 
Connecticut. Sequasson was completely overthrown, and 
became their subject until relieved by the English. The 
Pequots conquered as far as the bay of New Haven, com- 
pelling the Quinnipiacs to pay tribute. Then they crossed 
in their canoes to Long Island and to Block Island and 
extorted tribute there. The sagamore of the Mohicans 
was Uncas, a man of powerful build, and heir apparent to 
the Pequot sachemdom through the female line, his mother 
being aunt to the reigning sachem when the English moved 
to the river. Growing proud, and becoming treacherous, 
it is said, to the reigning sachem, he suffered repeated hum- 



THe Indians 31 

blings, and was driven from his country, and permitted to 
return only on the promise of submission. 

After Wapegoot, the Pequot sachem, was slain, Uncas 
made claim to the sachemdom, but the aggressive Sassacus 
was chosen, and he with his twenty-six war captains became 
a terror to Uncas and the River Indians. The Narragan- 
setts were the only tribe in New England which the Pequots 
had not conquered, and there was perpetual war between 
the two tribes. Canonicus was chief of the Narragansetts, 
but his wily nephew, Miantonomo, was the ruling spirit. 

There was another reason why Uncas and the Indians on 
the river cordially welcomed the coming of the English, 
and that was the hostility of the Mohawks, fierce members 
of the Five Nations of the Iroquois in central New York, 
who were the leading Indian power in North America. The 
Connecticut Indians were in deadly fear of the Hudson River 
Indians, and when a band of those warriors appeared they 
fled with the cry, "The Mohawks are coming." The Mo- 
hawks would cry out, "We are come, we are come to suck 
your blood." When the Connecticut Indians could not 
escape to their forts, they would run into English houses 
for shelter, and sometimes the Mohawks would pursue so 
closely as to enter with them, and kill them in the presence 
of the family, if there was not time to shut the door, but they 
would never enter by force, nor would they injure the Eng- 
lish. Every summer, two old Mohawks would visit the 
River Indians, issuing orders and collecting tribute. Up 
and down the Connecticut valley they passed, seizing 
wampum and weapons, and proclaiming the last stern edict 
of the savage council of Onondaga, heedless of the scowling 
Mohicans and Sequins, ground between Mohawks and 
Pequots. 

The Indians were large, straight, well-built men, capable 
of enduring excessive hardships and torture. They could 
run a hundred miles in a summer day. They were unclean 
in their habits and cruel to the last degree. As a warrior 



32 -A. History of Connecticut 

the Indian was a master, reveling in war. The approved 
tactics of our day are those which Indians developed, which 
the whites learned from them at large expense. Discipline 
was preserved, yet there was abundant opportunity for 
personal initiative. Their methods of signal service, rinding 
and using cover, scouting, gaining information, keeping in 
touch with the enemy, learning as much as possible of 
the foe without self -betrayal, became a revelation to men 
familiar only with European ways. It is too much to say 
that the United States owes to Indians its independence, 
but they emphasized the value of individual effort, and 
taught a new science of warfare, by which the colonial 
troops harassed the British regulars to desperation, and 
overmatched English pluck and endurance. 

The claim that a few Indians — perhaps six thousand — 
had a property right over great forest lands which they did 
not clear and till, whose boundaries they did not mark, on 
which they had no fixed habitation, about whose ownership 
they did not fight with one another, except over game, is 
about as reasonable as would be the claims of the bears of 
the wilds. As a rule the whites paid the Indians all the 
lands were worth, and saved not a few from death at the 
hands of other Indians. Pequots were interlopers equally 
with the English ; they tortured captives to death, cut large 
gashes in the flesh and poured in live coals, and made sufferers 
eat pieces of their own bodies. True, it was a cruel age; 
torture was a civil institution in England and Scotland. 
As late as 1646, a woman had her tongue nailed to a board 
at Henley-on-the-Thames, because she complained of a 
tax levied by Parliament. Frontenac burned prisoners at 
the stake in 1692. It was a common thing for European 
armies to kill all prisoners. 

It is not strange that the Indians should have been 
jealous of the English. It could not be otherwise when 
men determined, aggressive, and not too gentle, came in 
contact with a people little above the brutes, whose religion 



TKe Indians 33 

was a kind of pantheism; the sun a god, the moon a goddess; 
every fish, bird, reptile, tree, endued with mysterious powers; 
whose religious leaders were conjurers; whose good god 
Kiehtan was a cloudy bewilderment of goodness, whom 
they thanked for favors; whose devil Hobbamocke received 
the majority of their prayers and offerings; whose women 
were slavish beasts of burden; whose ruling passions were 
ambition, envy, jealousy, revenge; whose treachery was 
surpassed by their suspicion of the treachery of others. 
"They are a people," wrote Edward Winslow, "without any 
religion or knowledge of God." Mather and Eliot were 
obliged to use the English word for the supreme being in 
describing their beliefs. They had no sacred days or machin- 
ery of religion, hence nothing entitled to the name of reli- 
gious sentiments. The medicine-man or powwow was not 
so much a priest as a conjurer, a healer of diseases, and 
supposed to control the elements by virtue of mystic arts. 
The Algonkins had a myth-cycle of the rabbit, like the 
tar -baby tales. From the burial customs it is evident that 
Indians had some idea of a future life, but the belief in a 
happy hunting-ground is more radiant in the imagination 
of sentimental writers than in the faith of "these dregs of 
mankind," as their faithful friend, Roger Williams, called 
them; after extended experience with them, he said, "There 
is no fear of God before their eyes; and all the cords that 
ever bound the barbarians to foreigners were made of self 
and covetousness." In a letter to Winslow, Williams 
wrote, "Lying, stealing, lying and un cleanness are Indian 
epidemical sins." 

The head chiefs were in absolute authority, surrounded 
by courtiers, the largest, wisest, bravest men, a bodyguard 
firm and undaunted, trained from boyhood by coarse fare 
and whips. The mugwump was head of a subtribal band, 
the boss of the concern; the hereditary sachem entertained 
travelers and ambassadors; he was brave, subtle, and some- 
times eloquent, careful to move in accordance with the 



34 -A. History of Connecticut 

wishes of the people. Indians usually hunted alone, but 
sometimes grand hunts were organized. Their dwelling 
places were made of poles set firmly in the ground, bent 
together and fastened at the top; the sides were covered 
with boughs, thatched with rushes or bark. Sanitary laws 
and cleanliness were unknown, and the diseases few but 
deadly, for want of proper treatment, and when the small- 
pox appeared it swept away hundreds of the people. Quin- 
sies, pleurisies, rheumatisms, and quick consumption were 
common, and toothache a dreaded malady; Roger Wil- 
liams records the fact that while they could endure every 
other pain with fortitude, this was too much for their resolu- 
tion, and they would cry and groan after the most piteous 
fashion. 

For curatives they used sweating, and sometimes purged 
the system with herbs, which they knew how to select. 
One mode of sweating was by standing closely wrapped over 
a hole in the earth containing a heated stone. Another was 
to remain an hour or more in a little cabin or sweating hut, 
which was always on the bank of a pond or stream, so that 
when the patient had perspired sufficiently, he could finish 
the prescription by a swift plunge in the water. But another 
method was considered vastly more efficacious, and the 
practitioner was the powwow, who began his treatment 
after receiving a present, the size of which regulated his 
violence and effectiveness. Attiring himself like a wild 
beast or gorgon, he entered the presence of the patient and 
began in a low tone to invoke the deities, singing and gestur- 
ing; becoming frantic and violent he closed with furious 
howls and shouts; the sick man, forgetting his pain, joined 
in the hideous song. After the powwow had exhausted 
himself and worked out his gift, he breathed a few times on 
the patient, and went away. If the disease was too deep 
and death came, friends would visit the mourners, stroking 
gently cheek or head and saying, " Be of good cheer." Then 
a respected man would adorn the body with such ornaments 



THe Indians 35 

as the relatives could afford, swathe it with skins and mats, 
and it was buried, and with it dishes of food and implements 
of war, while the relatives stood by with faces freshly painted 
in black. 

In buying lands from the Indians there was a curious cere- 
mony called turf and twig. In February, 1639, Ansantawae, 
sachem of the Paugussetts, sold to the English a considerable 
tract near the center of Milford. The purchasers laid down 
before the sachem six coats, ten blankets, one kettle, and a 
quantity of hoes, knives, hatchets, and looking-glasses. A 
twig and a piece of turf were handed to the chief by a fol- 
lower, he stuck the twig into the turf and gave both to 
the English, indicating that he had passed over the soil and 
all it sustained. An instrument of sale was also drawn, and 
signed by leaders of both parties. The Indians were a 
trial in the early period, entering houses freely and some- 
times causing accidents by their eagerness to handle firearms, 
hence penal laws were passed ordering that for handling 
weapons an Indian was to pay a fine of half a fathom of 
wampum. An Indian who came to a settlement by night 
might be summoned by the watchman, and if he refused to 
obey, he might be shot down. In times of Indian warfare 
it was sometimes ordered that no one except a magistrate 
should receive a native into his house. In 1647, Indians 
were forbidden to hire lands of the English, because of their 
corrupting influence on young men. Since the Indians 
complained of being cheated out of their territories, a law 
was passed in 1663, forbidding private individuals buying 
lands of them. 

Connecticut was an Indian country, its colonies only 
two or three days' march on both sides from the most 
cruel and dangerous tribes in North America, and there 
were times when braves would lurk in the neighboring forest 
for three months waiting for the right opportunity to strike. 
It was stiff discipline: grim and bloody is the story of those 
bitter years ; it was a rough experience for both races in that 



36 -A. History of Connecticut 

stern age, and at length the English killed, drove out, or 
enslaved most of the Indians, after more than a century of 
fear and struggle. 

Just how much the settlers owed the Indians, and how 
far the presence of the aborigines affected the settlements 
and the history, are questions it is hard to answer. No 
doubt the fact that there were powerful tribes had a decided 
influence on the method of procedure of the whites. Had 
the land been unoccupied by human beings, the English 
might have swarmed over America in a short time, and the 
compact settlement on the Connecticut and its neighbor- 
hood with the resulting government would perhaps never 
have existed. One of the important contributions of the 
Indians was the system of trails, camping-places, and trade- 
routes which they had established. The Bay Path was 
learned of the Indians by the first pioneers to Connecticut. 
Indians were an agricultural people and cultivated maize, 
squashes, pumpkins, beans, and tobacco. It was possibly 
due to the raising and storing of Indian corn that the occu- 
pation of the continent at that time was made possible. 
The general distribution of the plant brought from the south 
had long before taken place, and this, with wild roots and 
beans, often eked out the food supplies of the conquering 
race. The English learned from the Indians to plant corn 
in hills and to fertilize with fish. Governor Bradford says 
that in April, 1621, "They began to plant their corne, in 
which service Squanto stood them in great stead, showing 
ye manner how to set it and after how to dress and tend it. 
And he tould them, excepte they got fish and set with it 
(in these old grounds) it would come to nothing." Thomas 
Morton in his New England's Canaan says, "You may see 
in one township a hundred acres together set with fish, 
every acre taking 1000 of them, & an acre thus dressed will 
produce and yield as much corn as 3 acres without fish." 
In the early history of the English settlements there is 
frequent mention of the "barns" of the Indians. These 



THe Indians 37 

were holes made in the ground in which corn and other 
foods were cached, and these helped out the settlers. The 
corn-cribs set on posts are an Indian invention, and have 
been slightly changed by the white settlers. The hominy- 
mortar and the device of preserving corn on the cob by 
braiding the husks are mentioned by early chroniclers as 
Indian devices. 

The influence of the Indians on the whites is suggested by 
the prevalence of such names as "Indian file," "Indian 
corn," "Indian summer," hickory, chipmunk, mugwump, 
moccasin, squash, woodchuck, toboggan, Saratoga, skunk, 
hominy, Tammany, and more than two hundred others. 
Indian in origin are such expressions as these: "fire-water," 
"paleface," "medicine-man," "Great Spirit," "happy 
hunting-grounds," "Great Father," "to bury the hatchet," 
"to smoke the pipe of peace," and "to take his scalp." 
The Indians were familiar with valuable febrifuges, pur- 
gatives, astringents, balsams, and stimulants, and the "In- 
dian doctor" was sometimes called in by the settlers to 
stanch wounds and alleviate pain. Upon the Indian repu- 
tation in medicine many quacks and impostors have ven- 
tured their claims to cure dozens of diseases. Sweat-baths, 
corn-poultices, lobelia, witch-hazel, cascara, and scores of 
other terms suggest the wealth of Indian " folk-medicine." 
Ropes and strings were made of "Indian hemp." Corn- 
husk mats are of Indian origin, and the European settlers 
learned from their neighbors of many durable ways of 
staining and dyeing. The white settlers owed much to 
the Indians. 



CHAPTER V 
WARS WITH THE INDIANS 

REFERENCE was made in the previous chapter to the in- 
fluence of the Indians upon the English in training them 
for war, and the discipline came hot and heavy at the very 
start, for the settlers had barely secured a foothold and a 
covering when they were met by a sharp challenge and 
stern defiance from the most dangerous tribe in New Eng- 
land. During the sixteen years since the settlement of 
Plymouth the Indians had been in the main friendly, but 
so numerous were the English becoming that the Pequots 
from their forts at Groton determined to strike for their 
hunting-grounds. Outrages opened in 1634, when Captains 
Stone and Norton were killed by allies of the Pequots, while 
ascending the Connecticut to trade; the Pequot chiefs 
Sassacus and Ninigret were in the conspiracy and shared 
the plunder. In 1636, John Oldham, who had been appointed 
collector of tribute from the Pequots, was killed by them 
off Block Island, and his boat seized; the murderers were 
attacked by John Gallop, another trader, killed or driven 
off, and the body of Oldham, still warm, was found in the 
boat. The fugitives fled to the Pequots, where they gained 
protection. Although the Pequots had nothing to do with 
the affair, the Massachusetts government sent Captain 
Endicott with a force to avenge the murder, and after 
stopping at Block Island and destroying some Indian houses 
and two hundred acres of corn, he went to the mainland 

38 . 



"Wars with. tHe Indians 39 

and burned some of the Pequot wigwams, which, as Gardener, 

the commander of the Say brook fort, told Endicott, was 

outrageous and would serve only to bring the Indians "like 

wasps about his ears," a prediction that came true. Sas- 

sacus tried to draw the Narragansetts into a general war, 

which might have annihilated the English settlements in 

Connecticut, but an ancient hostility toward their fierce 

rivals was too strong, reinforced as it was by the diplomacy 

of Roger Williams, who, at peril of life, visited the forts, 

and persuaded the Narragansett chiefs to go to Boston in 

the autumn, and conclude a treaty of peace and alliance with 

the English. 

The formidable Pequots, left to battle alone, spared no 

pains to provoke resentment. Early in October, they 

attacked five haymakers from the Saybrook garrison; 

seized a man named Butterfield and tortured him to death 

i 

and a few days after, they took two men from a boat, — one 
they killed, the other, Joseph Tilly, was tortured to death 
by cutting off hands and feet. The Saybrook fort was in a 
state of siege all winter; outhouses and haystacks burned; 
cattle killed or wounded. It was worse in the spring as Indi- 
ans watched roads and river. In March, Gardener, the 
commander, went out with ten men to work on the land; 
they were waylaid, three slain, the rest escaped to the fort, 
which was at once surrounded by a great number of Pequots, 
who challenged the English to come out and fight ; mocking 
the groans and prayers of tortured men; boasting that they 
could kill the English "all one flies," until grape-shot drove 
them away. Not long after this, three men sailing down the 
river were overpowered, one man was killed and he fell 
overboard ; the others were cut in two lengthwise and hung 
up on the river bank. In April, Indians went as far as 
Wethersfield and waylaid some farmers while going to their 
fields, killed two men, a woman, and child; they carried 
away two girls, killed twenty cows, and destroyed much 
other property. 



40 .A. History of Connecticut 

In the midst of these calamities, the General Court met 
at Hartford, May I, 1637, representing the little republic 
of eight hundred souls. It was a momentous time for the 
company of fifteen — six magistrates and nine committee- 
men, who were to decide the fate of Connecticut, at least 
for a time. They were surrounded by Indian tribes, scat- 
tered through the country from Hudson River to Narragan- 
sett Bay; these tribes united could have fallen upon the 
whites with a force of four or five thousand warriors. The 
Pequots had five hundred fighting men and no one could 
tell how soon fresh allies would join their forces. The 
Indians already had killed thirty people, and were growing 
bolder; there seemed to be no alternative. We are not 
surprised to read on the record the following vote, "It is 
ordered that there shall be an offensive war against the 
Pequots, and there shall be ninety men levied out of the 
three plantations of Hartford, Windsor and Wethersfield." 
Hartford was to furnish forty-two, Windsor thirty, and 
Wethersfield eighteen men. There have been longer sessions, 
and less pointed legislation since then, but none more ef- 
fective. Busy days followed, and on Wednesday, May 10, 
the little army of ninety Englishmen and seventy Mohicans 
embarked in three small vessels, with the queer names of 
"a pink, a pinnace and a shallop." The commander was 
Captain John Mason, who had served in the Netherlands 
under Sir John Fairfax, and the chaplain was Samuel Stone. 
The vessels ran aground so frequently in the shallow waters 
of that season that Uncas begged leave to go ashore; when 
the English reached Saybrook fort on Monday, May 15, 
they found Captain John Underhill, with twenty men from 
Massachusetts, with Uncas, happy over a battle with the 
Pequots, in which seven had been killed and one captured. 
The last was handed over to the Mohicans, who tortured, 
roasted and ate him. 

It was an anxious time for Captain Mason and his slender 
army, lying wind-bound from Monday until Friday in front 



Wars witH tKe Indians 41 

of the fort, knowing well that every motion was watched 
by sharp Pequot scouts, that his passage into the Thames 
would find the enemy well prepared, that the moment he 
landed his men on the rocky shore, Pequot warriors would 
hasten by the hundreds from the woods. His orders were 
to land near the mouth of the Pequot, now the Thames 
River, and attack the enemy from the west. The keen 
officer knew that it would be suicidal to leap into a swarm 
of arrows with his little band. There was delay, for the 
other officers and the men were in favor of obeying instruc- 
tions to assault the Indian fort at once; they shrank from 
the long march through the woods on the east, and the long 
exposure of their homes through their absence. In the 
division of opinion, Chaplain Stone played a valuable part : 
urged by Captain Mason to pray for guidance, he spent most 
of Thursday night in prayer; the next morning he reported 
the harmony of the captain's plan with the divine will. It 
was decided to send twenty men to Hartford to strengthen 
the home guard, while Captain Underhill, with nineteen 
men, took their places. 

It was a stiff undertaking, for it was learned from 
the two Wethersfield girls, captured by the Indians and 
brought back by the Dutch, who had exchanged for them 
six Indians, that the Pequots had sixteen muskets, and knew 
how to use them. Following the good judgment of Captain 
Mason, backed up by the prayers of the chaplain, the tiny 
fleet set sail for Narragansett Bay, determined to march 
through the woods across Rhode Island, and crush the 
Indians by night. They passed Watch Hill and Point 
Judith and on Saturday evening reached Narragansett 
Pier, and came to anchor near Tower Hill, where they spent 
Sunday on shipboard, a northwest gale preventing the 
landing before Tuesday at sunset. Then the captain led 
his army to an Indian village, not far away, where was 
a Narragansett chief, who approved of the design of the 
expedition and the program, but thought the force too small 



42 A. History of Connectiout 

to deal with an enemy, which was, as he said, "very great 
captains, and men skilful in war." 

During Tuesday night, an Indian runner came from 
Providence to tell Mason that Captain Patrick was on his 
way from Massachusetts with a small body of troops, but 
Mason balanced the value of surprise against the import- 
ance of additional troops, and decided to push on at once. 
He set out through the wilderness Wednesday morning, 
May 24, with "seventy-seven brave Englishmen, sixty 
frightened Mohicans, and four hundred terrified Narragan- 
setts and Niantics." They marched twenty miles to 
Niantic, a village of the Narragansetts, on the borders of 
the Pequot country. The chief, fearing the enmity of the 
Pequots, refused admission to the English for the night. 
On Thursday, Mason advanced fifteen miles to a place five 
miles northwest of Stonington, near a hill, where stood the 
principal stronghold of the Pequots, a few miles from the 
residence of Sassacus. The day was sultry and oppressive, 
some of the men fainted from heat, and most of the Nar- 
ragansetts, "being possessed with great fear," fell behind. 
Evidently the Pequots had not been alarmed, since the 
sentinels of the English could hear the noisy revels in the 
fort, celebrating possibly the departure of the English in 
fear. Had there been a seer among those fierce men in that 
fort on the hill a mile west of Mystic, he might well have 
thrilled his companions with a tragic tale, for it was the 
last night of the Pequot tribe on earth. It was a clear, 
beautiful evening in spring, and amid the weird shadows 
cast by the trees in the bright moonlight, the soldiers, 
exhausted by the march, threw themselves on the ground 
and slept. "The rocks were our pillows," said Mason, 
"but rest was pleasant." About an hour before light, the 
men were roused and bidden make ready for battle. The 
moon still shone on them as Chaplain Stone prayed softly 
for the help of God, and soon the little army was in motion 
for the fort two miles away on Pequot Hill. They feared 




The Plan of the Pequot Fort 






Belt and Strings of Wampum 



"Wars witH tKe Indians 43 

at first that they were on the wrong track, but were reas- 
sured when they saw a field of corn newly planted, and soon 
Uncas the chief and Wequash the guide came near. "Where 
is the fort?" asked Mason. "On the top of that hill," 
was the answer. "Where are the rest of the Indians?" 
asked the commander. "Tell them not to fly, but to stand 
off as far as they please, to see whether Englishmen will 
fight." 

The fort was a nearly circular area of several acres, 
enclosed by trunks of trees set firmly in the ground close 
together, and rising to the height of twelve feet. Within 
were seventy wigwams in two rows. There were two en- 
trances, one on the northeast side, the other on the west. 
Mason led at one, and Underhill at the other. The Pequots 
had no sentinels, and the garrison was sound asleep. When 
the storming party was within a rod of the palisade, an 
Indian dog barked, and a voice of an Indian was heard 
shouting, "Owanux! Owanux!" (Englishmen, Englishmen). 
No time was lost. Mason pushed away the brush before 
the entrance and led sixteen men into the enclosure; a des- 
perate hand-to-hand struggle began with the Indians who 
swarmed from the wigwams like bees. Some of the Pequots 
began to shoot from the doors of their lodges. One of them 
was on the point of shooting Mason through the head, when 
a soldier cut the bowstring with his sword. Soon the 
captain saw two soldiers lowering their swords toward the 
earth as though the undertaking were hopeless; the attack- 
ing party was getting out of breath as it swept through 
the area, killing the braves right and left ; some of the whites 
were wounded, two were dead. "We shall never kill them 
this way; we must burn them," shouted Mason, touching 
a firebrand to the mats which covered a hut. The fire, 
fanned by a rising northeaster, spread through the fort. 
Underhill set the other side afire with a train of gunpowder, 
and the English were driven from the furnace. In an hour 
the fort was in ashes; English muskets shot down a part of 



44 -A. History of Connecticut 

those that escaped, and the native allies brought down nearly 
all the rest. "It is reported by themselves," said Under- 
hill, "that there were about four hundred souls in this fort, 
not above five of them escaped out of our hands." Mason 
said that seven hundred perished, and seven were captured. 
Of the English, two were killed and twenty wounded. 

There was another Indian fort a few miles farther west, 
near the path to Pequot harbor, where Mason had arranged 
to meet the vessels ; food and ammunition were almost spent ; 
the surgeon was on shipboard; the heat was overpowering, 
and early in the day, the Indians from the other garrison, 
seeing the smoking ruins of their neighbors, tore their hair, 
and working themselves into a frenzy, rushed upon the 
Englishmen to avenge the slaughter, but Mason, hiring his 
allies to carry away the wounded, drove back the enemy, 
and at evening the soldiers embarked and returned to 
Hartford, after an absence of three weeks. 

On the day after the battle, the last council of the Pequot 
nation was held, at which a program for the future was 
adopted. It was decided, after a stormy debate, to burn 
their wigwams and supplies and join the Mohawks on the 
Hudson. Thirty men, with as many women and children, 
took refuge in a swamp near their former home. Stoughton 
of Massachusetts with one hundred and twenty men found 
them there and killed all the men but two, who were kept 
for guides to lead the English to Sassacus, the fugitive chief- 
tain. Thirty-three of the Pequot women were given to the 
Indian allies; the remainder were sent to Massachusetts 
and sold as slaves. The captured women reported that 
thirteen sachems had been slain, and that thirteen survived. 

In June, the Connecticut Court met at Hartford and 
ordered Mason to go with forty men to carry on the war. 
He joined Stoughton with his Massachusetts men at New 
London. It was decided to follow Sassacus in his flight to 
the Hudson. Grim, persistent, relentless attack and pursuit 
were the program ; the conduct of the Indians in their flight 



"Wars with. tKe Indians 45 

did not dull the edge of the sword; Sassacus and Monotto 
with the main body of the tribe, while crossing the Connecti- 
cut, killed three men in a canoe and hung their bodies on 
trees; Mason, Stoughton, and Uncas were on their track. 
Sachem's Head gained its name from the fact that Uncas 
cut off the head of a Pequot chief and hung it in an oak there. 
In hot pursuit Mason overtook the foe in a swamp in Fair- 
field, where the Indians made a stand ; a cordon was formed 
about the Pequots; all who were not red-handed from the 
murder of whites were offered life; it was specially desired 
to save local Indians who had fled to the swamp in terror of 
vengeance, and also the women and children of the Pequots. 
Some availed themselves of the offer, all but the men. 
In a thick fog the Indians fell upon the English, but were 
repulsed ; in the hand-to-hand struggle which followed many 
Pequots were killed, and one hundred and eighty captured. 
A massive block of granite has been recently placed in the 
swamp with the inscription: 

The Great Swamp-Fight 

Here Ended 

The Pequot War 

July 13, 1637 

Sassacus was not present at the swamp fight. Accused by 
his people of being the author of their misfortunes, he fled 
westward to the country of the Mohawks, with a few war- 
riors. The Mohawks, hating the Pequots as cordially as 
did the English, and wishing to conciliate the latter, be- 
headed Sassacus, his brother, and five sachems, sending 
their scalps to Connecticut. In the autumn a black, glossy 
lock of hair was received in Boston; it was from the head of 
Sassacus, who was more fortunate than Uncas, who lived 
to be a degraded, drunken dependent of the English. 

This victory benefited Uncas, who with Miantonomo, 
sachem of the Narragansetts, met the magistrates at Hart- 



46 .A. History of Connecticut 

ford, September 21, 1737, and a treaty was formed between 
Connecticut, the Mohicans, and the Narragansetts, according 
to which there was to be perpetual peace. Connecticut was 
to have the territory of the Pequots, remnants of whom 
were to be absorbed by the Mohicans and Narragansetts, and 
the name Pequot was to cease, save in that sightly elevation 
Pequot Hill, on which stands a rude bowlder crowned by a 
bronze statue of Captain John Mason, and the stately 
soldier is in the act of drawing his sword. The later years 
of Uncas were not enviable, though he had the pleasure of 
giving away or selling for a trifle large tracts of land about 
Norwich, often with boundaries covering previous grants, 
until in 1680, becoming alarmed at approaching poverty, 
he applied to the legislature to take jurisdiction over 
his remaining property, allowing him compensation for 
sales; agreeing to keep the peace and to assist the colony 
in case of attack. The Assembly accepted the trust, prom- 
ising to give good advice if Uncas were attacked, and 
furnish ammunition at a fair price. Uncas lived only two 
or three years to enjoy this one-sided arrangement, dying 
in 1682, or 1683. His son Owenico was in a still more 
pitiful state at the end. In 1680, he made over all the lands 
his father had given him on the Quinnebaug to James Fitch, 
his loving friend, as he called him, giving as a reason for the 
deed the fact that some of the English extorted land from 
him by importunities, and others by inducing him to sign 
papers while he was under the influence of strong liquors. 
James Fitch was son of the Norwich minister, but unlike 
his father was grasping and eager for land. One night 
Owenico became very drunk, fell out of his canoe, and 
would have drowned had it not been for two settlers, to one 
of whom he gave one hundred acres of land. This princely 
Owenico, the brave warrior in early manhood, fighting 
gallantly the Pocomtocks, Pocanokets, and Narragansetts, 
became a vagabond in his old age. With squaw, blanket, 
gun, and a pack on his back, he wandered about the settle- 




e 



"Wars witH tKe Indians 47 

ments, presenting to strangers who could not understand 
his English the following doggerel: 

Oneco, king, his queen doth bring, 

To beg a little food ; 
As they go along his friends among 

To try how kind, how good. 

Some pork, some beef, for their relief, 

And if you can't spare bread, 
She'll thank you for a pudding, as they go a-gooding, 

And carry it on her head. 

The question now arises, can we justify this fearful 
campaign? The war would not have been waged at that 
time had not the Endicott expedition, carried on in defiance 
of the judgment and wishes of Connecticut, enraged the 
Pequots. After thirty murders by the savages, Connecticut 
was obliged to take the field. It was clear to the wisest 
and best men in Connecticut that the question was squarely 
before them, either to slay or to be slain. 

The next Indian war was in 1675-76, and the Indians 
were far more dangerous than the Pequots of thirty-eight 
years before. Their weapons were no longer confined to 
the spear, the arrow, the tomahawk, and the scalping-knife ; 
firearms with powder and shot were in their hands. They 
were also better acquainted with the methods of the 
English, who in turn had been studying the ways of the 
Indians. While many armed men went forth from the Con- 
necticut villages in King Philip's war, the battle scenes 
were outside the colony, though heavy losses fell within. 
King Philip, the Indian leader, was sachem of the 
Wampanoags, and his chief fort was at Mount Hope, in 
the eastern part of the town of Bristol in Rhode Island. 
For several years it had been supposed among the colo- 
nies that the Indians were forming a general conspiracy, 
with the purpose of ridding their hunting-grounds of people 



48 .A. History of Connecticut 

who seemed to the independent sachems as intruders and 
usurpers. John Sausaman, a Christian Indian, who had 
once been a subject of Philip, told the English of the plot. 
Philip secured the murder of Sausaman. The murderers 
were tried by English laws and executed. Philip armed his 
subjects and began to march up and down the country. In 
June, he made an attack on Swanzey near Mount Hope, 
killing nine and wounding seven of the people. Other 
places in the neighborhood were attacked, and the colonies 
sent soldiers against them. The Narragansetts did not 
enter very cordially into the alliance, which Philip sought 
to make as general as possible. They did harbor the old 
men and women of their warlike neighbors. The chiefs of 
the Narragansetts, with Canonchet at their head, for a time 
resisted the appeals of Philip, and a treaty was forced from 
them which they soon violated. The commissioners of the 
United Colonies, convinced that the Narragansetts were 
aiding Philip, decided that an army of a thousand men 
should be sent against the Indian headquarters in the Nar- 
ragansett country. Of these Connecticut furnished three 
hundred Englishmen, and one hundred and fifty Pequot 
and Mohican Indians, with Major Treat in command. 

On December 18, 1675, these made a junction with the 
Massachusetts and Plymouth forces. Wading through the 
snow until about one o'clock, they reached the vicinity of 
the Indian fort, which was on a hill in the center of a great 
swamp. The fort was attacked with spirit, and after con- 
siderable loss was taken and given to the flames ; hundreds 
of the Indian warriors were killed, many captured, and 
many perished in the snow. It was a costly victory for the 
colonists, as eighty were killed or mortally wounded, and 
the sufferings on the return were extreme. Of the five 
Connecticut captains, three, Seely, Gallup, and Marshall 
were killed, and Captain Mason died of a wound nine months 
afterwards. It was a fearful winter for many towns in 
Massachusetts, as the enemy had lost their dwellings and 



Wars witH tKe Indians 49 

provisions, and there was little to detain them in Rhode 
Island. March brought disasters to Northampton, Spring- 
field, Chelmsford, Groton, Sudbury, and Marlborough; 
Northfield, Hadley, and Deerfield were also sufferers. Con- 
necticut troops with many faithful Pequots under Majors 
Talcott and Treat ranged through the country back and 
forth, destroying many warriors and capturing others, and 
at length the war came to an end. It is impossible to esti- 
mate the number of Indians engaged. About six hundred 
of the sturdiest men in the colonies were killed and wounded, 
and the country was in mourning. Connecticut suffered 
nothing from the ravages of the enemy in this war, but it 
was a time of dread ; palisades were erected, guns kept within 
reach, garrison houses built, heavy expenses incurred, but 
the country was rid of a dangerous enemy by a campaign 
determined and thorough. The most serious loss was 
incurred in the great swamp fight, and the valor of the 
soldiers was thus described by the General Assembly: 

There died many brave officers and sentinels whose memory 
is blessed, and whose death redeemed our lives. The bitter cold, 
the tarled swamp, the tedious march, the strong fort, the numer- 
ous and stubborn enemy they contended with, for their God, 
King, country, be their trophies our death. Our mourners over 
all the colony witness for our men that they were not unfaithful 
in that day. 

Despite all that has been said to disparage the treatment 
the Indians received at the hands of the whites, the careful 
student of the times must admit that it was fair. In the 
nature of the case there were cases of meanness, cruelty, and 
revenge. There were men, who, after seeing wife and chil- 
dren butchered in cold blood in midnight assault, spent the 
remainder of their days in killing with a kind of mania, 
a method which partook of the severity of the savage race, 
and there were many whites who fell below the purpose which 
filled the minds of some of the noblest of the Puritans when 



50 A. History of Connecticut 

they came hither: "the glory of God, and the everlasting 
welfare of these poore, naked sonnes of Adam." But there 
were efforts made to teach and evangelize them. In 1650, 
the colony made some provision for their religious education. 
In 1654, the General Court, lamenting that so little had 
been done through want of an able interpreter, ordered 
that Thomas Myner of Pequot (New London) send his son 
John to Hartford "where this Court will provide for his 
maintenance and schooling, to the end that he may be, for 
the present, assistant to interpret the things of God to them 
as he shall be directed." Rev. Abraham Pierson of Bran- 
ford learned the Indian language and preached to the Indi- 
ans; Fitch and Narber did likewise. Gookin and John 
Eliot entered the colony for the same purpose, but only the 
scantiest results followed. In 1657, J°h n Eliot, "the apostle 
to the Indians," was in Hartford at a council of minis- 
ters, and desiring to preach to the natives, some of the 
Podunks across the river were gathered to listen to him. 
He spoke to them in their own language, and when they 
were urged to become Christians, they answered angrily, 
saying that the English had taken away their land and now 
they were attempting to make the Podunks their servants. 
It is not strange that men who were addicted to war, revenge, 
and laziness should have found little in the Bible to please 
them. The friendly and patient Rev. James Fitch of Nor- 
wich did everything in his power to Christianize the Mohi- 
cans, preaching to them in 1671, and later, but he was 
forced to admit that ' ' Uncas and Owenico at first carried it 
teachably and tractably, till they discerned that practical 
religion would throw down their heathenish idols, and the 
tyrannical authority of the sachems; then they went away 
and threw off their people, some by flatteries, some by 
threats." Embittered by their poverty and misery before 
the advancing prosperity of the English, the Indians were 
in no mood to receive, with the humility required, the teach- 
ings of their conquerors, though the commissioners of the 




A Pastoral Scene in Woodstock. Pulpit Rock in Foreground, from which John 
Eliot Preached to the Indians in 1670 



/Wi 



' &mmig: m^^f^hfiii^hrfyfi 



# 




Bissell's Ferry in Windsor, in Continuous Operation since about 1645 

Redrawn from an Old Print 



Wars witH tHe Indians 51 

United Colonies voted money for their education in New- 
Haven. Stone, Newton, and Hooker taught in Farmington 
an Indian school from 1648, to 1697, and further records of 
the school are dated 1733-36. At one time there were 
fifteen Tunxis Indians in the school, and in the list of church 
members of the Farmington church are the names of Solomon 
Mossock, admitted June, 1763, and Eunice Mossock, ad- 
mitted in September, 1765. In 1728, a grandson of Captain 
John Mason taught the Mohicans English and religion, 
receiving for his services fifteen pounds, and in 1727, a law 
was passed ordering masters and mistresses to teach their 
Indian servants to read English, and also the Christian 
faith by catechizing them, under a penalty of not over forty 
shillings. In 1733, the legislature made an appropriation 
for the Indian school at Farmington, and in 1736, contribu- 
tions for Indian education were ordered from the churches 
at the next Thanksgiving. 

The most celebrated school for the Indians was the 
"Moor Indian Charity School" in Lebanon. Samson 
Occum, who had been converted in 1740, in the Great Awak- 
ening, applied to Rev. Eleazer Wheelock, the pastor in 
Lebanon, who began preaching to the Indians in 1735; the 
application was made in 1745, and for three years the young 
Mohican received instruction from Wheelock. In 1754, 
Joshua Moor left, after death, his house and two acres for 
a school. Wheelock gathered pupils in that house, beginning, 
in 1754, with two Delawares; soon others followed. In 
1762, there were over twenty: one Mohican, six Mohawks, 
and the rest Delawares. Contributions came in from 
various quarters. Four Indian girls were taught sewing 
and housework. Occum was ordained by the presbytery 
of Suffolk Long Island in 1759, and he became a suc- 
cessful preacher to his people, though it is painful to be 
obliged to say that this lonely and comparatively respecta- 
ble product of Christianity among the Indians vibrated 
between drunkenness and repentance. Thackeray would 



52 A. History of Connecticut 

say that he wept over his sins until he grew thirsty, then 
drank again. 

Like similar schools in later days, the treasury was usually 
empty, and in 1766, Occum and Nathanael Whitaker went 
to Great Britain for money. The presence of the Mohican 
there made a decided sensation, and there were large contri- 
butions to the Lebanon school; the king gave two hundred 
pounds, Lord Dartmouth fifty pounds, and soon seven 
thousand pounds was gathered from England and two 
thousand from Scotland. In 1770, the school moved to 
some lands that were opening in Hanover, New Hampshire, 
and it became the foundation of Dartmouth College. Here 
and there the Indians lingered in Connecticut, with an 
occasional "praying Indian" like good old Mamousin of 
the Mattabesetts, but most of them were ignorant, poor, de- 
graded, and licentious — miserable relics of a barbarous race. 

This story from that stern, fierce age is too bloody to 
be romantic, too bitter and cruel to be proud of, too sad to 
dwell upon longer. It is a story of courage and daring on 
both sides. It is not strange that the Indians should have 
hated the English, when they saw their hunting-grounds 
vanishing. Nothing short of miracles could have prevented 
injustice and ill-feeling. The destruction of the Pequots 
and the Narragansetts has been stigmatized as cruel by 
critics, sitting in their studies or on their verandas, but 
there was only one issue — to destroy or be destroyed. The 
struggle had to come, soon or late. Indians, wolves, and 
panthers were doomed to death or exile. The work of 
extermination was done in a grim age, thoroughly, save for 
a few that yielded to the civilizing influences so patiently 
exerted: some went to newer parts of the country; some 
stayed in Connecticut communities, as slaves or thievish, 
drunken remnants of a race in which civilization found thin 
soil. The descendants now living in the state are hardly 
enough to count. 



CHAPTER VI 
FORMING THE GOVERNMENT 

THE process of establishing a government over a new state 
by men of such decided ideas and keen consciences 
was a difficult one, and they could not take the mother 
colony of Massachusetts as a model in every respect because, 
as we have seen, their settlement on the Connecticut was 
due in part to a protest against the methods of the Bay State. 
New ground had to be broken in the forming of constitution 
and laws, and the process was necessarily one of evolution. 
As soon as the sharp collision with the Pequots was over, 
the able men, with whom the young commonwealth was 
well supplied, addressed themselves resolutely to the task 
of establishing a system of laws which would make perma- 
nent and secure the principles which had led to the migration. 
It is impossible to understand the early conditions 
without taking notice of the fact that Springfield was settled 
at the same time with Windsor, Hartford, and Wethersfield. 
In 1635, William Pynchon, the principal man of Roxbury, 
Massachusetts, with the main body of the church and com- 
munity, followed the Indian trail, the famous Bay Path, 
westward until he reached Agawam or Springfield, at the 
intersection of a trail north and south, — a convenient center 
for trade in furs; and near Enfield Falls, Pynchon built a 
warehouse, at a place now called Warehouse Point, conve- 
nient for the Agawam settlers. From the first, the emi- 
grants on the Connecticut were recognized as four distinct 

- 53 



54 -A. History of Connecticut 

companies, and William Pynchon and Henry Smith repre- 
sented the Roxbury party. 

There is one thing to be made clear at this point and that 
is that the towns did not migrate as towns; not one half of 
the Dorchester people went to Connecticut; of the ten 
townsmen elected in 1634, only three went; of the nine 
elected in 1635, only three went, and of the thirteen later, 
only four migrated. There is nothing in the records to 
indicate a removal or reorganization. The assessment lists 
of Massachusetts contain the names of Newtowne, Dor- 
chester, and Watertown after 1636. Companies from those 
towns migrated and not towns. In each of the three settle- 
ments on the Connecticut there was the embryo of a town, 
which in four years came into organization, having of course 
local management from the first, but the government was 
purely democratic, and not the government of an independ- 
ent town. The settlements were forced to form a provi- 
sional government early, for the dreams of trading with the 
Indians as a lucrative line of business in addition to farming 
soon changed into the stark proposition of fighting the 
fiercest tribe in New England. The agricultural settlements 
changed into armed camps, and farmers into soldiers. 

The first government was provisional, and was under 
the authority of Massachusetts, which gave her first recog- 
nition of the Connecticut plantations in June, 1635, ap- 
pointing one of the settlers as constable, "sworn constable 
of the plantations, till some other be chosen." Three 
months later, permission was given by the mother colony 
for the loan of military stores, and the election by each 
plantation of its own constable, who was to be sworn in by a 
magistrate of the Bay Colony. The constable was a com- 
mander of militia, and the first organization was for defense. 
When Massachusetts was forced to allow the churches to 
emigrate, the Newtowne church came to Hartford in the 
spring of 1636, with its two ministers, and a new stage of 
organization began. It is clear that the church organiza- 



Forming tHe Government 55 

tion did not coincide then with the town organization ; it 
certainly did not in Wethersfield, where seven men consti- 
tuted the legal church, while there were more than fifty 
in the plantation. At a later time town and church were 
one, but at first the township was broader than the parish. 

In March, 1636, the Massachusetts Court instituted a 
provisional government under a commission, or in the quaint 
words of the time, "graunted to severall prsons to governe 
the People att Connecticott fr the Space of a Yeare nowe 
nexte comeing," and it ordered that Roger Ludlowe, Esquire, 
William Pynchon, Esquire, John Steele, William Swaine, 
Henry Smith, William Phelps, William Westwood, and An- 
drew Ward, "or the greatr pte of them shall haue full power 
and aucthoritie." It was a court for the investigation of 
questions that might arise, and for the decision of all public 
matters pertaining to the settlements. This was the first 
General Court, and its authority came from the mother 
colony, which expected these eight magistrates to issue 
decrees and govern the towns. This Court met eight times 
between April 26, 1636, and May 1, 1637, Agawam not being 
represented until the fifth meeting on November 1, 1636. 
The Massachusetts Court provided that after the close of a 
year for which the eight commissioners were appointed, 
there could be held a convention of the inhabitants "to any 
convenient place that they shall think meet, in a legal and 
open manner by way of court." It came to pass that on 
March 3, 1637, Connecticut ceased to acknowledge political 
dependence on Massachusetts, and in the next Court the 
people were represented by committees to the number of 
nine men, who were present with the magistrates at the 
session of May 1, 1637, to take action concerning the Pequots, 
the additional men being called to act with the magistrates 
on account of the gravity of the situation. Under this 
arrangement the Connecticut people were governed for 
three years, war being undertaken, troops equipped, heavy 
taxes levied and collected and the Pequots destroyed, with 



56 A. History of Connecticut 

but little help from Massachusetts. The inhabitants 
signed a written compact of local government May 14, 1636, 
and by action of the court which met in February, 1637, 
Newtowne became Hartford, Watertown Wethersfield, 
and Dorchester Windsor. The basis of this government 
was the assumed consent of the grantees under the alleged 
Warwick patent, represented by John Winthrop, Jr., rather 
than on any inherent authority of the Massachusetts Bay 
Colony. 

One of the earliest acts of the court was to declare 
officially that the government of the towns was determined 
by the constables — the military officers, with cannon, watch, 
and train-band, and this was done in April, 1636, when it 
was voted that the three plantations could each appoint a 
constable. It thus appears that the towns drew their 
authority from the government established by Massachu- 
setts, and this Court went on to bound and name settlements, 
increase the powers for self-support and defense, and legally 
organize the church in Wethersfield. Hartford was more 
advanced than the other plantations, and was probably 
first to establish a town organization, which was started in 
December, 1639. There is no evidence of official organiza- 
tion in the towns in the first years, and the only officers 
were probably a constable, collector, and commissioner for 
each town, selected by the central authority. In short, 
there was a provisional government in 1636-37, an inde- 
pendent government in 1637-38, and a" regularly organized 
government in 1639. 

At the court of March 8, 1637, Pynchon and Smith rep- 
resented Agawam, and again at the court of March 28, 
1638; a tax for the Pequot war was levied upon the up-river 
settlement, the separation of which from the others came 
in 1638, being hastened by a business difficulty. The General 
Court gave a monopoly of the trade with the Indians to 
Pynchon, on condition that he supply Connecticut with five 
hundred bushels of corn at five shillings a bushel. A bitter 



Forming tHe Government 57 

controversy followed, as Pynchon was charged with bad 
faith, and was fined forty bushels of corn, but an olive branch 
was offered him in the shape of a monopoly of the beaver 
trade. The four towns evidently worked together through 
the fall of 1648, for an Agawam culprit was then punished 
by the General Court, and Hooker spoke in the fall of that 
year of magistrates from the four towns. On January 14, 

1639, the court met, but Agawam had no part in it, and 
two days later, the fine was demanded of Pynchon. Mas- 
sachusetts hesitated to take Agawam, which seemed as far 
away as the Philippines do now; Cotton Mather expressed 
the opinion many held in Massachusetts of the settlements 
on the Connecticut when he said that "worthy, learned and 
genteel persons were going to bury themselves alive on the 
banks of the Connecticut." The colonists decided the 
question for themselves and on February 14, 1639, Agawam 
voted to cast in her lot with Massachusetts, and on April 16, 

1640, it was voted to wipe out the Connecticut name and 
"call the plantation Springfield." It was several years 
before the matter was entirely settled; Haynes and Hooker 
went to Boston to propose a renewal of the treaty, though 
nothing came of it, and it was ten years before Springfield 
delegates were received at the court at Boston. 

The earliest place for the assembling of the court may 
have been at the home of one of the magistrates, and after 
a little while at the meeting-house, probably not far from the 
site of the Hartford Post-office. Some have held that the 
place of assembling until 1661, was in an upper room in 
the meeting-house, but others have insisted that since that 
room was but ten feet square it is improbable that such was 
the case. There is no certain information on the subject of 
the meeting place until September, 1661, when the General 
Court took up its abode for nearly fifty years in Jeremy 
Adams's tavern, which was situated on a lot of two or three 
acres south of "Meeting house Yard," a little south of 
the present City Hall Square. There was a well on the 



58 A History of Connecticut 

north of the lot one hundred and twenty-five feet from 
Main Street, and the tavern stood fifty or sixty feet back of 
the well. There is a record of 1661, that " Jer. Adams hath 
mortgaged his house and home lot whch. he bought of John 
Mouice with all other ye buildings erected thereon since his 
Purchase (unto Capt. John Talcott as Treasurer to Con- 
necticut Collony)," and in the Colonial Records of May, 
1662, "It is granted and ordered by this court upon the 
motion and desire of Jeremiah Adams that ye house that 
the said Jeremy doth now possess and improve for an Ordin- 
ary, or house of common entertainment, shalbe and remaine 
to ye said Jeremie and his successors, provided as hereafter 
expressed." This license was perpetual, obligatory, and 
irrevocable, and the colony was mortgagee of the tavern. 
Among the requirements aside from the usual "accom- 
modation and provision for the entertainment of Travellers 
with horse and otherwise and that both respecting wine and 
liquors and other provision for food and comfortable refresh- 
ing, both for man and beast," was this, that Adams was to 
provide "a chamber for the meeting of the court, furnished 
with chairs and tables, a large leather chair and carpet, with 
accommodation for forty or fifty people." In that court 
chamber the committee of the Indian Court met in 1678; 
there laws were enacted to establish new towns and settle 
difficulties in older ones; to provide for taxes for King 
Philip's war and guard against the dreaded Quakers; to 
settle estates and allay church quarrels; to arrange treaties 
with Indians and determine the policy toward England and 
the other colonies; to decide on post roads and decree the 
ordinances of trade and commerce. There Winthrop de- 
scribed his brilliant success with Charles II., and there it is 
probable was held the controversy with Andros over the 
charter and the government of the colony. 

Jeremy Adams died in 1684, and the following year the 
court appointed a committee to make sale of the house 
and lot, authorized the treasurer to sign the deed of sale, 



Forming tKe Government 59 

indicating that the colony was proprietor in fee; on 
December 2, 1685, the lot was conveyed by the treasurer to 
Zachary Sanford, grandson of Jeremy Adams, and the court 
continued to sit in the court chamber of the tavern. In 
1 7 13, Landlord Sanford died, and by his will the tavern and 
home lot passed to his daughter Sarah and her husband, 
Jonathan Bunce. The tavern had grown dilapidated, and 
soon after the death of Sanford the court moved to the new 
tavern of Caleb Williamson, which stood on the site of the 
old Travelers' Building. As the colony advanced in wealth 
and importance, it became evident that more suitable pro- 
vision should be made for the General Court, and in October, 
1 71 7, the Colonial Records tell us it was voted "that a 
quantity of the ungranted lands of the Colony be sold to 
procure" six hundred and fifty pounds for a state-house, 
besides money for county court-houses. A year later it was 
voted to allow five hundred pounds toward the state-house, 
and a building committee was appointed to consist of Wil- 
liam Pitkin, Joseph Talcott, and Aaron Cook. In 1719, it 
was voted that this committee 

with all convenient speed proceed to carry on said building ac- 
cording to the dimensions given or agreed upon by this As- 
sembly, viz. 70 foot in length, 30 foot in width, and 24 foot 
between joynts & that in pursuance thereof the said committee 
are ordered to receive of the committees appointed for the sale 
of land the sum of 500 pounds, which the said committees are 
hereby ordered to pay to the said committee for building the 
State House: and that the county of Hartford shall pay toward 
the finishing of said State House the sum of 250 pounds, and it 
shall be requisite to the finishing said house, which sum this As- 
sembly impower the judges of the county court of Hartford to 
levy upon the polls, and what is wanting, draw on the public 
Treasury. 

The further specifications of the building were as follows : 

With a range of pillars under the middle of the beams of the 
chamber floor, a door on each side, & at each end, a staircase at 



60 .A. History of Connecticut 

the south-west, and another at the south-east corner; two cham- 
bers of 30 foot long at each end, one for the Council and another 
for the Representatives, with a space of 12 foot between the 2 
houses, and a staircase into the garrets, and on either side a 
lobby to the council chamber will serve the occasions designed 
by the Assembly. 

This building stood on the west side of the square, near 
Main Street, and it had a gambrel roof. In 1 792, the General 
Assembly appointed a committee to build a state-house of 
brick, and Hartford county bore part of the expense that it 
might have a room in the building for its courts. This 
well-known state-house was completed in 1795, and was in 
use by the Assembly from 1796, to 1878. The present state- 
house was completed in January, 1880, and it is upon a site 
bought by the city of Trinity College. The cost of erec- 
tion was three million three hundred and forty-two thousand 
dollars, and it is the custom to emphasize the fact that it 
was finished within the appropriation. 

The place of meeting in New Haven for the legislature 
was the meeting-house; in 171 7, the first county house 
was built on the northwest of the Green, to accommo- 
date the General Court and also the Superior and County 
Courts. In 1763, a state-house of brick was built be- 
tween Center and Trinity churches; in 1827, the imposing 
structure west of the Center Church, modeled after the 
Parthenon, was erected, and was in use until 1875, after 
which Hartford became the sole place of meeting of the 
General Assembly. The salary of the early governors was 
modest, since on November 9, 1641, it was ordered "that 
one hundred and sixty bushels of Corne shall be sent in by 
the County to the Governor, to be levied upon the towns by 
the proportion of the last vote." Four years later the salary 
was thirty pounds in "wheat, pease and corne." 

We do not know when the settlers of the three towns 
discovered that they were not within the limits of Massa- 
chusetts, but on January 24, 1639, the fathers of the colony 




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Forming tHe Government 61 

met at Hartford, either in a popular gathering as Trumbull 
says, or through the Court, which is more probable, and 
drew up a form of government for the colony, a system 
similar to that of Massachusetts, except that it came into 
shape at one time, instead of through a course of years. 
The "Orders" have been called a "Constitution," but they 
were more like statute law, for they contained no provision 
for amendment, and when amended later, it was through 
the ordinary process of legislative action. It was really a 
plantation covenant with the addition of eleven legislative 
statutes. 

The seed of the Connecticut government was in a sermon 
preached by Hooker, May 31, 1638, of which Henry Wolcott, 
Jr., of Windsor took notes, and from those notes we learn 
that the Hartford minister laid down the doctrine: I. That 
the choice of public magistrates belongs unto the people by 
God's own allowance. II. The privilege of election must 
be exercised according to the blessed will and law of God. 
III. Those who have power to appoint officers and magis- 
trates have also power to set the bounds and limitations of 
the power and place unto which they call them. The rea- 
sons are as follows : 1 . Because the foundation of authority 
is laid in the free consent of the people. 2. Because by a 
free choice the people will be more ready to yield obedience. 
3. Because of the duty and engagement of the people. 

The lesson taught is threefold. 1 . Thankfulness to God 
for his faithfulness in permitting these measures. 2. Of 
reproof — to dash the counsels of opposers. 3. Of exhorta- 
tion — to persuade us, as God hath given us liberty, to take 
it. 4. Lastly, as God hath spared our lives, and given us 
them in liberty, so to seek the guidance of God, and to 
choose in God and for God. There is no reference in the 
sermon to the king of England, no sign of deference to any 
class, every one exercising his rights "according to the 
blessed will and law of God," and to hold himself responsible 
to God alone. 



62 A. History of Connecticut 

Seven months after Hooker's sermon, the people of the 
three plantations met in Hartford, on January 14, 1639, 
and put into form Hooker's teachings for the orderly govern- 
ment of the settlements on the river, "the first example in 
history of a written constitution, a distinct organic law con- 
stituting a government and defining its powers." The 
three settlements regarded themselves as one people, one 
sovereignty, and, as all the writers agree, the Fundamental 
Orders were adopted at a mass-meeting of all the people. 
It is significant that the framers of this constitution — Hooker 
with his passion for democracy, Haynes with his liberal 
spirit, and Ludlow with his profound legal knowledge and 
insight — arranged that the sovereign rights of the people 
be given up and vested in the General Court, declaring that 
since the inhabitants of the three settlements are dwelling 
together on the Connecticut, and the Bible requires peace 
and union, therefore, 

we do associate and conjoin ourselves to be one public state or 
commonwealth; and do, for ourselves and our successors, and 
such as shall be adjoined to us at any time hereafter, enter 
into combination and confederation together to maintain and 
preserve the purity of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus; as also in 
our civil affairs to be guided and governed according to such 
laws, rules, orders and decrees, as shall be made, ordered and 
decreed, as f olloweth : 

first, the state consists of towns, each town regulating, to a 
certain extent, its own affairs as a pure democracy ; secondly, 
elections in the state are annual, all powers going back to 
the people once in every year; thirdly, legislation is by the 
representatives of towns, acting coordinately with another 
body of men chosen by the people at large; fourthly, the 
judicial and executive powers are distinguished from the 
legislative, though committed to men having a share in 
legislation. Later, a distinction was made between the 
judiciary and the other branches, but this was not required 



Forming tHe Government 63 

in the infancy of the government, when it was natural and 
safe to identify judiciary and executive. The following 
are the provisions of the Fundamental Orders of 1639: 

1. The right of suffrage was broad. Neither the pos- 
session of real estate, nor the payment of a tax, nor the 
performance of military duty, was placed among the qualifi- 
cations of a voter. The choice of magistrates was to be 
"made by all that are admitted freemen, and have taken 
the oath of fidelity," living within the jurisdiction, "and 
admitted inhabitants by the major part of the town, or by 
the major part of such as shall be then present." It was 
not universal suffrage, but near it. 

2. The executive and judicial power was vested in a 
governor, and at least six assistant magistrates ; to be elected 
on the second Tuesday in April, annually. No person could 
be elected governor who was not "a member of some ap- 
proved congregation," or who had not formerly been a 
magistrate within the jurisdiction, nor could any person 
be governor oftener than once in two years. The only 
qualification for the magistracy was that the persons chosen 
should be "freemen of this commonwealth." 

3. Elections were held in a general assembly of all the 
freemen of the colony. Magistrates were chosen thus : At 
a preceding General Court, within the year, the names of 
those who were to stand as candidates for the magistracy 
at the ensuing election were propounded to the people for 
consideration. This was done, not by a caucus, or a party 
convention, but every town had the power of nominating, 
by its deputies, any two names, and the General Court 
could add to the nomination at its own discretion. On 
election day the secretary read the names of all who were 
to be voted for; after that, every name was voted upon by 
ballot, a paper with any writing on it being an affirmative 
vote, and a blank paper negative. Every person was 
voted for in turn. If at the close, six, in addition to the 
governor, had not received majorities, six should be made 



64 -A. History of Connecticut 

up by taking the one or more for whom the greatest number 
of votes had been cast. 

4. The legislature consisted of the governor and his 
assistants in the magistracy, together with the representa- 
tives of the towns. Each of the three towns included in the 
jurisdiction was empowered to send four of its deputies to 
the General Court; and the towns that should afterwards 
be added were to send as many deputies as the Court should 
judge meet in view of the number of freemen in the new 
towns. Though the deputies did not sit in a different room 
for the transaction of ordinary business, it was provided 
that they should meet by themselves before the opening of 
any General Court, to judge of their elections, and "to advise 
and consult of all such things as concern the public good." 

5. Another feature of this constitution is its implied 
renunciation of the laws of England, the common law as 
well as the statute law. The magistrates were empowered 
"to administer justice according to the laws here established, 
and for want thereof according to the word of God." This 
was a prophecy of the Declaration of Independence. It has 
been easy to ridicule this provision, but, since the colonists 
had cut loose from the mother-country, with its royal 
government, prelacy, and liturgy, and had gone beyond the 
reach of laws which had been trying, the freemen determined 
that not even common law should burden them without 
express enactment, and to prevent the necessity of falling 
back on the common law in cases where no express statute 
had been enacted, the magistrates were to administer justice 
according to the principles of equity laid down in a book of 
universal authority — the Bible. 

6. The religious cast of this constitution, its connection 
with the religious opinions and institutions of those who 
framed it, appears in the preamble, which asserts that the 
end of the commonwealth is "to maintain and preserve the 
liberty and purity of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus which we 
now profess, as also the discipline of the churches, which, 



Forming tHe Government 65 

according to the truth of the Gospel, is now practiced among 
us." More explicit is the provision, which requires that 
the governor be "a member of some approved congregation 
within the jurisdiction." In Massachusetts and New 
Haven, only church members could have political power, 
and the breadth and freedom of the " Orders " of Connecticut 
were due to men like Thomas Hooker, John Haynes, and 
Roger Ludlow. 

It remains to notice the provision by which this primitive 
constitution would secure its own perpetuity, and keep the 
supreme power inalienably in the hands of the people. In 
all ordinary cases* the General Court, of which there were 
to be two sessions annually, was to be convened by the 
governor, sending out a summons to the constables of every 
town, upon which they were to call upon the inhabitants to 
elect their representatives. The governor was also em- 
powered to convoke a special session of the Court on any 
emergency, with the consent of a majority of the magistrates. 
But if, through the neglect or refusal of the governor and 
magistrates, the General Court should not be convoked, 
either at the stated time of meeting, or at other times when 
required by "the occasions of the commonwealth," then 
the freemen, or a major part of them, might call on the 
magistracy by petition to perform its duty; and if that 
petition should be ineffectual, then the freemen, or the 
major part of them, might give order to the several towns, 
which order should have the same validity as if it proceeded 
from the governor. And the Court thus convened, without 
a governor and without magistrates, should consist of the 
major part of the freemen present or their deputies, 
with a moderator chosen by them; and the General Court 
so constituted should have "the supreme power of the 
commonwealth," including, among other things, "power to 
call in question courts, magistrates, or any other person 
whatsoever, and for just causes to displace them, or deal 
otherwise according to the nature of the offence." Thus 
5 



66 .A. History of Connecticut 

if magistrates should destroy the government, or interfere 
with the rights of the freemen, full provision was made for 
reorganization, whenever the people should choose. 

In August or September, 1639, the Court appointed a 
committee to complete the town organization, and this was 
finished in October, and a schedule of powers delegated to 
the towns was adopted at that time, securing to the people 
of the towns power to sell lands, choose officers, pass local 
laws, assess, tax, and distrain, hold local courts for minor 
offenses, to record titles, bonds, sales, and mortgages, and 
to manage the probate business in the several towns. The 
relation of the towns to the General Court was clearly de- 
clared by the Supreme Court in 1864, when the chief justice 
announced the judgment of the Court as follows: 

That extraordinary instrument [the constitution of 1639] pur- 
ports on its face to be the work of the people — the residents and 
inhabitants of the three towns. It recognizes the towns as 
existing municipalities, but not as corporate or independent, 
and makes no reservation expressly or impliedly in their favor. 

The towns never failed to recognize the fact that power ran 
from the commonwealth downward, and there is no instance 
of their passing the bounds of the Court orders. Toward 
the end of the seventeenth century, Hartford said, "If the 
General Court see cause to overrule in this case, we must 
submit." At first the legislature recommended to the 
towns, and later it did not hesitate to order. 

To the question, "Did the deputies represent the towns 
as equal entities, or the body of the freemen as a whole?" it 
must be said that in theory the freemen and inhabitants 
were separated only by an oath of allegiance, which the 
electors of magistrates and deputies were required to take, 
but in practice not one half of the men availed themselves 
of the privilege. It was ordered that the three original 
towns should have four deputies each, and that when other 
towns were formed, they were to have as many deputies as 



Forming tHe Government 67 

the Court should judge meet — a reasonable proportion to the 
number of inhabitants, indicating that the General Court 
proposed to keep in its own hands the number of deputies, 
and that the towns were not to have necessarily an equal 
number. Thus the deputies, who came to form a lower 
house in 1698, were considered the representatives of the 
freemen of the colony, and no town except the first three 
has ever sent more than two, and since the time when the 
charter was read before the legislature, even the three river 
towns have had but two deputies. 

We come now to a consideration of citizenship in Con- 
necticut towns, and the official system that prevailed. As 
is well known, the early settlers could not agree to the method 
which prevailed in Massachusetts of restricting freemanship 
to church members. It was a radical and far-reaching 
principle that was stated in the first section of the Orders 
of 1639, that choice of the governor and magistrates "shall 
be made by all that are admitted freemen and have taken 
the oath of Fidelity and do cohabit within this jurisdiction 
(having been admitted Inhabitants by the major part of the 
Towne wherein they live or the major parte of such as shall 
be present). " This laid upon the different towns the power 
to regulate the admission of citizens. 

We are to bear in mind the close union of church and 
state, that while in theory they were separate in those first 
sixty years, in practice they were interwoven, though not 
in the strict way that prevailed in Massachusetts and New 
Haven. It was the opinion of the colony that "loathesome 
Heretickes, whether Quakers, Ranters, Adamites or some 
other like them, " had no place in Connecticut, though it 
was not until 1656, that the General Court, following the 
recommendations of the commissioners of the United Colo- 
nies, passed an order forbidding the towns to entertain such 
people. But no one became a permanent resident of a town 
until he was admitted as inhabitant, and transients found 
scanty hospitality. To say that the suffrage in Connecticut 



68 .A. History of Connecticvit 

was universal up to 1657, would be nearly correct, for free- 
manship was conferred upon all above sixteen in a town and 
upon others who brought certificates of good behavior from 
other towns ; the oath being administered in both instances. 
This is the more significant from the fact that in Massa- 
chusetts only freemen (chosen by the General Court) could 
"have any vote in any town in any action of authority or 
necessity, or that which belongs to them by virtue of their 
freedom," which means, as we have noticed, that only 
about one-sixth of the inhabitants there were allowed any 
voice in the business of a town, though all were taxed. 

In 1657, there came a change in the passage of the law, 
which defined inhabitants who were mentioned in the 
seventh Fundamental of 1639, as householders that are one 
and twenty years old, or have borne office or have thirty 
pounds estate. This was a large sum when ratable estate 
averaged about sixty pounds for every inhabitant. But 
why was it that suffrage was restricted in 1657? The colony 
was losing faith in the people as the first generation passed 
away, and more questionable immigrants were coming in, 
and in 1659, it was voted in Hartford that no one was to be 
admitted as an inhabitant "without it be first consented to 
by the orderly vote of the inhabitants." 

With the narrowing of the elective franchise, the right 
of voting for colonial officers was taken from a number of 
inhabitants, though the towns clung to their democratic 
principles longer than the colony, and paid little attention 
to the order of the Assembly of 1679, which declared that 
no one except an admitted inhabitant, a householder, and a 
man of sober conversation, who had at least fifty shillings 
freehold estate, could vote for town or county officers or 
for grants of rates or lands. 

The growth of the official system in the towns was after 
this fashion. We have seen that the first officer was the 
constable, and the first mention of town officers is January 
I, 1638, when Hartford chose four townsmen, and defined 



Forming tHe Government 69 

their duties, which were soon widened to cover powers as a 
court for petty cases (for which a separate body might be 
chosen), supervision of estates of deceased persons, taking 
inventories of wills and similar duties. About the same 
time Hartford, following out the order of the Court, elected 
two constables, and in December, 1639, gave the towns- 
men liberty to appoint two men to "attend them in 
such things as they appoint about the town affairs and be 
paid at a publique charge." These men were to view the 
fences about the common fields when requested by the 
townsmen, and to receive threepence an hour, and fourpence 
if obliged to spend time repairing. This was to be paid by 
the owner of the broken palings. They were to survey the 
common fields, and if any stray cattle or swine were found, 
they were to do "their best to bring them to the pound," 
for which they were to receive extra pay for every animal 
impounded. They were also to "warn people to publick 
employment or to gather some particular rates or the like," 
for which they were to receive threepence an hour. We 
have here the germs of the fence- viewer, hayward or bound- 
viewer, the public warner, and the rate-collector. Highway 
surveyors had been appointed just before this, whose duty 
it was to supervise the roads. In 1640, the town officers 
of Hartford were two constables, four townsmen or select- 
men, two surveyors, and a committee of two to attend to a 
number of things. Of these the constables and townsmen 
were elected annually; the surveyors were a committee 
appointed for an indefinite period, and the two others were 
chosen as a temporary expedient. As highways were called 
for more and more, surveyors became regular officers, and 
in 1643, chimney- viewers were elected, as the town had 
already established the requirement that every house should 
have its ladder or tree for use in case of fire. In some of 
the towns the townsmen had charge of the fences, highways, 
animals, and rates, but gradually various officers were ap- 
pointed to meet the increasing needs, and in nearly all cases, 



70 A. History of Connecticut 

save that of townsmen, town officers were the result of an 
order of the Court to that effect. 

Special officers were needed to regulate the finances. 
There were at first three rates and afterward a fourth. The 
first was that paid to the colony ; then there was the town rate, 
and it was paid according to the estate of each inhabitant; 
there was also the minister's rate, and afterwards there was 
the school rate. The lister made up the list of the estates, 
and his associates made up the rate; the collector or bailiff 
was the officer to whom the inhabitants brought wheat, 
peas, and Indian corn ; the inspector, who was to see that no 
one's estate was left out of the list, was a short-lived officer. 
There soon came into existence a large number of other 
officers, such as packer of meat, brander of horses, sealer 
of leather, examiner of yarn, sealer of weights and measures, 
the standards of which were procured from England, public 
whippers, cattle-herders, sheep-masters, tithing-men, ordi- 
nary-keepers, ensign of the train-band, town criers, town 
warners, and town clerk. 

The most important set of officers in the town was the 
townsmen — the executive board of which appeared on the 
records of Hartford, January I, 1639. At a meeting of that 
board, two weeks before the Constitution was adopted, it 
was ordered that the townsmen, for the time being, should 
have the power of the whole to order the common occasions 
of the town, with certain limitations ; they could not receive 
new inhabitants without vote of the whole; could make no 
levies on the town except concerning the herding of cattle; 
could grant no lands save in small parcels to a needy in- 
habitant; could not alter any highway already settled and 
laid out; in the calling out of persons and cattle for labor 
they must guarantee in the name of the whole the safe return 
of cattle and a reasonable wage for the men, and should not 
raise wages above sixpence a day. They were required to 
meet once a fortnight, under penalty of two shillings six- 
pence for every offense. The number of townsmen differed 



Forming tHe Government 71 

in the several towns: in New Haven the number was ten, 
and later seven; Hartford regularly had four; Wethersfield, 
in seventy years, had at different times five, four, and three ; 
Windsor had seven and then five. Their business, according 
to the records, was "to agetat and order the townse occasions 
for the present year." Since town affairs included church 
affairs, the townsmen had on their hands the care of the 
meeting-house, superintending those who were chosen by 
the town to clapboard, underdaub, sweep, and dress it, and 
also the construction of porch, seats, and pulpit. Through 
the townsmen the expenses of the town were met, such as 
paying the herders, watch, drum -beaters, building and repair 
of bridges, setting the town mill, surveying lands, repairing 
the minister's house, payment of minister's salary, occa- 
sionally supporting poor persons, repair of town property, 
as ferry, town stocks, payment of bounties for wolves and 
blackbirds, payment of town officers, and such extra ex- 
penses as "liquor for boundgoers." There was no law 
that required the townsmen to make an annual statement 
of receipts and expenditures, and they sometimes failed 
to square accounts and hand over the surplus to their 
successors. 

The townsmen gradually changed into the selectmen. 
This name does not appear in Hartford and Windsor until 
1 69 1, and for twenty-five years after that there was a com- 
mingling of the terms. The title selectmen might be used 
in recording the election, but the old name of townsmen was 
often used in the further accounts. After 1725, selectmen 
was the generally accepted term. 

The constable was the right arm of the law, and a very 
important officer, and since the river towns were of a military 
character, the earliest act of the provisional government was 
directed against a laxity of military discipline, and the next 
forbade the sale of arms, powder and shot to the Indians, 
following which is the appointment of constables as military 
officers. Then the constable was to patrol a town to guard 



72 .A. History of Connecticut 

against Indian attacks, and also to view the ammunition, 
which every inhabitant was ordered to have in readiness; 
soon also every town was to be put into military condition 
by monthly trainings under the constable, with more fre- 
quent meetings for the "unskilful." The constable was to 
examine the arms to see "whether they be serviceable or 
noe," a duty which was afterward given to the clerk of the 
train-band. After the war was over the inhabitants were 
ordered to carry to the constable "any armor, swords, belts, 
Bandilers, kittles, pottes, tooles, or anything else that be- 
longs to the commonwealth," and he was to return them to 
the next Court. 

After Captain John Mason was appointed general train- 
ing officer, the constable became a purely civil officer with 
many police duties. The town meetings were held at first 
monthly, but later they were held less frequently in the 
summer, and the autumn and winter meetings were of the 
greatest importance, for then the officers were elected, rates 
proclaimed, and laws read. The town meeting was usually 
called together by the beating of the drum or blowing of 
the trumpet from the top of the meeting-house, as is sug- 
gested by a Windsor record, "determined that provision 
should be made from the top of the meeting-house, from the 
Lanthorn to the ridge of the house, to walk conveniently to 
sound a trumpet or drum to give warning to the meetings." 
There were also warners in Wethersfield who went from house 
to house, to give notice to the inhabitants. The time of 
meeting was nine in the morning, and at first fines were 
imposed for absence. Officers were generally chosen by 
ballot, though at times, for "dispatch of business," show of 
hands was employed. 

The government formed in 1639, was steady in its work- 
ing; at the first election on April II, 1639, John Haynes was 
chosen governor; in a period of twenty years, Haynes 
was governor eight times and Edward Hopkins seven times. 
In 1657, John Winthrop, Jr., was chosen governor, and he 



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ft Printed by Samuel Green. 1674. 

The Title-Page of the First Election Sermon Preached in Connecticut 

This sermon was the first of the famous series of election sermons delivered to the General 

Assembly at the opening of the annual session. A copy is in the possession of 

the Connecticut State Library 



Forming' tKe Government 73 

held office for eighteen years. Early in the next century, 
Gurdon Saltonstall was governor for seventeen years. 

The ecclesiastical excresence on the constitution, natural 
at the time, though contrary to the spirit of the document, 
remained to trouble the commonwealth until the political 
system came up to its own standard in 1818. The wisdom 
of Hooker is seen nowhere else more clearly than in the 
third proposition of the sermon that "they who have the 
power to appoint officers and magistrates, it is in their power 
also to set the bounds and limitations of the power and place 
unto which they call them." The government was a crea- 
tion of the people, and governor, legislature, and judges 
were to have a limited power, and that limiting element 
afterwards developed into the Supreme Court. This fea- 
ture of Hooker's sermon is probably the most important 
development of our political system. There had been 
democracies before, but the supremacy of the law, coming 
directly from the people, limiting the government created 
by the people, is original here, and is a principle which 
found expression in the Constitution of the United States, 
a fact which has led many admirers of the Connecticut 
system to declare that the former can be traced to the con- 
stitution of 1639. This is an alluring view, which is not 
now accepted by those who have examined the subject, 
though, no doubt, the Connecticut government had a 
decided influence at the convention of 1787, because of the 
presence there of Sherman, Ellsworth, and Johnson. 

The fact that there was no sovereignty of the towns 
before 1639, enhances the glory of Connecticut as the birth- 
place of American democracy, and it is enough honor for 
this commonwealth to have been the first organized govern- 
ment to draft for itself an organic law, and first to build 
that law on the theory that the sovereignty of a state is in 
the people of the state. 

It is not a gracious task to criticize so great an instru- 
ment as the famous "Constitution" of the colony, but the 



74 -A. History of Connecticut 

open suffrage provision was found in practice to be too doc- 
trinaire, and had to be changed in twenty years; the throw- 
ing off of all connection with English law made New England 
inferior to the South in the production of able lawyers, and 
the equality of representation in the towns has left a legacy 
which has retarded progress, and permits the injustice of a 
town of a hundred voters having as many representatives 
in the legislature as a city of a hundred thousand souls. 
Then, too, the refusal of the founders to grant larger power 
to the governor has led to an excessive development of the 
legislative factor, which in the judgment of many has proved 
a detriment to colony and state. 

The question now arises as to the authorship of this 
remarkable document. An easy answer is the common one 
— Thomas Hooker — and we are not to lessen the glory of 
that great mind, but there was one other man, and only one, 
who had the training and the ability to fashion the Funda- 
mental Orders, and that was Roger Ludlow of Windsor. 
Ludlow came of a distinguished, liberty-loving family, a 
family of soldiers, lawyers, and statesmen. From 1547, to 
1660, six Ludlows studied law in the Inner Temple, and 
Roger Ludlow, after two years at Balliol College, Oxford, 
became a student at the Inner Temple in 1612, and for the 
next period, until at forty he sailed for Massachusetts, he 
was engaged in legal training and research; mastering prin- 
ciples and precedents; becoming an expert in handling 
constitutional forms, thus commending himself to his 
critical associates as the one man to whom they could look 
to grasp and form the laws of the new state; to serve as 
magistrate and jurist, and to put into final shape the colo- 
nial statutes. Ludlow married Mary Endicott, a sister of 
the Massachusetts governor. He sailed in the spring of 
1630, in the first ship of the fleet, and landing in May at 
Nantasket, he went to Dorchester with a group known as 
the Dorchester Company, — "a godly and religious people, 
many of them persons of note and figure, being dignified 



Forming tKe Government 75 

with ye title of master, which but few in those days were." 
When, in 1630, the famous charter of Massachusetts Bay 
was secured from King Charles, Ludlow was chosen an 
assistant by the stockholders in London, "that his counsel 
and judgment might aid in preserving order, and founding 
the social structure upon the surest basis." Among his 
associates were the Earl of Warwick, Lord Say and Sele, 
Winthrop, Vane, Mason, Underhill, and Wafeham. To be 
chosen assistant in association with such men marks Ludlow 
as a man of superior ability and knowledge. His service 
in Massachusetts for five years as magistrate in the Great 
Charter Court and as deputy governor, brought him oppor- 
tunity for many important duties and to meet questions of 
the gravest concern, to which he brought all the resources 
of his powerful mind. 

Remembering the situation at Boston Bay, the disposi- 
tion of Winthrop, Cotton, and the other leaders to keep the 
reins of government in the hands of the few, it is significant 
that when the struggle began between magistrates and 
commons, Ludlow, an assistant, stood with his associates, 
but when the freemen demanded a sight of the charter, and 
appointed deputies to advise the magistrates, Ludlow took 
his place with the people, and in 1634, was elected deputy 
governor, from which office he graduated to cast in his for- 
tunes with the settlers on the Connecticut. We need not 
repeat the story of diplomacy and force by which the Dutch 
were ousted, the Pilgrims checkmated, and the younger 
Winthrop led to abandon his claim to the upper Connecticut. 
We have seen that Ludlow was at the head of the Massa- 
chusetts commission to govern the colony for a year, was 
practically the first governor; when the Court assembled 
at the opening of the second year, May 1, 1637, Ludlow 
presided, and "offensive warr" against the Pequots was 
voted. He was in charge of the defenses about Windsor 
while the soldiers were absent; he was in the army at the 
Swamp Fight, and when the Fundamental Orders were 



j6 j\ History of Connecticut 

adopted at Hartford January 14, 1639, who was the man 
who put into form that immortal instrument? Ludlow 
was a lawyer — the only one in the colony ; he was trained in 
the best English schools; had served on the government of 
Massachusetts for four years; had drawn the main acts of 
the colonial government, and while Haynes, Wyllys, Web- 
ster, Mason, Goodwin, and Steele had part in the delibera- 
tions, we cannot refrain from the belief that Ludlow was 
the leading mind in framing the Fundamental Orders. This 
cannot be proven, for there is no record of the meetings, 
but it is a natural inference from the facts cited above, and 
from the fact that in 1646, it was ordered by the General 
Court that 

Mr. Ludlowe is requested to take some paynes in drawing forth 
a body of Lawes for the government of this Commonwelth, 
and p r sent the same to the next Generall Court ; and if he can 
provide a man for his occasions while he is imployed in the said 
searvice, he shall be paid at the country chardge. 

While the three plantations on the Connecticut were 
forming their government, New Haven, Milford, and Guil- 
ford were laying their --ci vie foundations with sermons and 
prayers. On reaching 1 New Haven in 1638, the settlers 
first bound themselves by a "plantation covenant," similar 
to that of the Plymouth Pilgrims, making a temporary 
government, and thirteen months later, in the barn of 
Robert Newman, the civil and ecclesiastical foundations of 
New Haven were laid. In 1643, the neighboring colonies 
of Milford and Guilford were admitted into the jurisdiction 
of the New Haven colony, and at that time a written consti- 
tution, consisting of certain "fundamental orders," appears 
upon the record. This differed from the constitution of 
Connecticut in that it insisted that none but church members 
could vote; the number disfranchised in New Haven was 
probably a majority; in Guilford nearly a half. It also 
guarded carefully the independence of the churches, and 



Forming tHe Government 77 

established various courts whose powers were carefully 
prescribed. At New Haven as at Hartford, the settlers 
felt that they were not founding colonies but states. During 
many of the earliest years, the records of New Haven 
contain no recognition of the English king. This was 
natural, for the twelve years from 1628, to 1640, were a 
period when the prospects of liberty in England, under Laud 
and Strafford, were at the darkest; when freedom existed 
only in a memory or a hope. During those years, when 
the realm was governed, not by Acts of Parliament, but by 
Orders in Council, twenty thousand Puritans emigrated to 
New England; and it is not strange that a knowledge of the 
condition in England should have colored the constitutions 
forming here. 

On March 14, 1661, the General Court of Connecticut 
voted to acknowledge allegiance to Charles II., with request 
for a charter, and in August, John Winthrop, Jr., sailed in 
quest of the boon. He was to ask for the renewal of the 
patent, or for a charter. There was a happy combination 
of influences working for the good of the colony; Lord Say 
and Sele was interested in Winthrop and in the community 
he represented, and the scientific tastes and scholarly bearing 
of Winthrop commended him to the English government, 
so that it came to pass that a charter was obtained more 
democratic than was ever given by another king, by which 
was constituted the Governor and Company of the English 
Colony of Connecticut in New England in America. The 
boundaries of the territory were: on the east, 



the Narragansett River, commonly called Narragansett Bay, 
where the said river falleth into the sea; on the north, the line 
of the Massachusetts Plantation; on the south, the sea; and, in 
longitude, as the line of the Massachusetts Colony runneth from 
east to the west, that is to say, from the said Narragansett Bay 
on the east, to the South Sea on the west part, with the islands 
thereto adjoining. 



78 -A. History of Connecticut 

These boundaries included the whole of New Haven colony, 
as well as the territory of Rhode Island. 

The government was to be administered by a governor, 
a deputy governor, twelve assistants, and a house of deputies, 
which was to consist of two members from each town, to 
be elected annually by the freemen of the colony. The only 
limiting clause was that the local legislature could not make 
laws contrary to those of the realm of England, but this had 
little weight, for there was a method in the English govern- 
ment of annulling laws passed by colonial legislatures. It was 
an extraordinary document to be issued while Lord Clarendon 
was minister, and one reason for its quality may have been 
the desire to punish New Haven for harboring the regicides. 
The king issued a sign manual bearing "Charles R," Febru- 
ary 28, 1662, and the charter passed the great seal, as is 
indicated by the chancellor's "recipe," April 23. The 
arrival of the charter in New England four months later, 
created a decided sensation. Great was the joy; it was 
read in Hartford, October 9, committed to Wyllys, Talcott, 
and Allen; the General Court declaring in force all the 
laws and orders of the colony, making a declaration of the 
same to all civil and military officers. Westchester, lying 
within Dutch territory, received notice of the claims of 
Connecticut, and the dwellers at Mystic and Stonington 
were notified that they were within Connecticut. Border 
towns that had been allied with New Haven waited on the 
legislature of Connecticut and asked admission to its citizen- 
ship. A committee of two magistrates and two ministers 
was appointed to go to New Haven, to say they hoped that 
a happy union might be formed, and the reply was that 
the New Haven colony preferred to hear the particulars 
from the lips of Winthrop. Meanwhile meetings of the 
freemen were held, and protests made against the union 
which was thrust upon them, and votes were taken in the 
towns to defer action until Winthrop's home-coming. 

Connecticut made no response to the remonstrance of 




The Charter of 1662 

This is from a photograph of the charter issued to the colony in 1662, by Charles II. For a 
short time it was secreted in the famous Charter Oak. At the right is the Constitution of 
1818. Above is Stuart's Washington. The group is in the south end of Memorial Hall, 
Connecticut State Library 



Forming tKe Government 79 

New Haven until some four months later, when it sent a 
committee of four magistrates to New Haven to settle the 
matter of union and incorporation. They were instructed 
to consent to no concessions and to make no compromises. 
New Haven, at a meeting of its General Court, resolved to 
recognize no changes of the government, and to go on as 
usual. In the face of the advice of Winthrop in the com- 
munication he sent to Deputy Governor Mason of Connecti- 
cut, that colony proceeded to appoint magistrates for the 
New Haven towns, and invited from those towns deputies 
to the Connecticut legislature. Since New Haven declined 
to treat with Connecticut, that colony addressed the several 
towns of New Haven. At the meeting of the federal com- 
missioners in Boston in 1663, the question of union was 
the most important matter of consideration. New Haven 
presented its grievance over the usurpation of Connecticut, 
and the representatives of Massachusetts and Plymouth 
gave it as their opinion that 

the colony of New Haven might not by any act of violence, have 
their liberty of jurisdiction infringed by any other of the United 
Colonies without breach of the Articles of Confederation and 
that, wherein the act of power had been exerted against their 
authority, the same ought to be recalled, and their power reserved 
to them entire, until such time as in an orderly way it should be 
otherwise disposed. 

Meanwhile the New Haven alliance tended to disin- 
tegrate; the plantation convenant excluded forty per cent, 
of the population from citizenship, and this element was 
friendly to a change. It was not easy for the New Haven 
confederacy to pay the expenses of the government after 
all but three towns seceded, but the order received from 
England at that time, requiring the observance of the navi- 
gation laws, was addressed to the governor and assistants 
of New Haven, and that was considered by the authorities 
as a virtual recognition of their separate capacity, and they 
made it the basis of a claim for taxes on the seceding towns. 



80 A. History of Connecticut 

To bring the intolerable situation to a close, the General 
Court of New Haven prepared a paper to transmit to the 
Connecticut authorities, entitled New Haven's Case Stated, 
wherein the full history was set forth, and the Connecticut 
authorities were requested no longer to force a union. To 
this plea Connecticut made no reply, and the contest con- 
tinued until the summer of 1664. The leading men of 
Massachusetts advised New Haven to yield, saying that the 
Case Stated justified its position and it could yield with 
dignity, and this advice was followed after a few concessions 
had been made. The movement toward union was not 
retarded by the fact that Charles II. granted to his brother, 
the Duke of York, March 12, 1664, New Netherlands and all 
Long Island "and the land from the west side of Connecticut 
to the East side of Delaware Bay." Royal authority had 
disposed of New Haven without her knowledge. Between the 
two powerful claimants, Connecticut and the Duke of York, 
there was no hesitation about the decision. It was better 
to be connected with a people of their own faith than become 
the property of a prince of the House of Stuart. When 
Colonel Richard Nicolls came with three ships of war and 
troops to secure possession from the Dutch, the charter of 
Winthrop was a welcome resource. Winthrop preferred 
to yield Long Island rather than the west, and the boundary 
on the west was declared to be "the creek or river called 
Mamoronock, which is reputed to be about twelve miles 
to the east of Westchester, and a line drawn from the east 
part or side, where the fresh water falls into the salt at high 
water, mark, northwest to the line of Massachusetts." 
Thus Connecticut kept substantially all she had formerly 
claimed on the mainland in return for the loss of Long 
Island. By that time New Haven saw that union could 
no longer be delayed, and on December 13, 1664, she held 
her last General Court and adopted resolutions dissolving 
the colony. Davenport was bitterly disappointed, and said 
the independence of his colony was "miserably lost." 



CHAPTER VII 
COURTS AND LAWS 

AT first the legislative and judicial powers of the colony 
were vested in the General Court, whose authority came, 
as we have seen in the previous chapter, from the Massachu- 
setts legislature. In accordance with the commission from 
Boston, a "Corte" was organized, consisting of magistrates 
from Hartford, Windsor, and Wethersfield on April 26, 
1636, at Hartford, and the following men were present: 
Roger Ludlow, John Steele, William Swain, William Phelps, 
William Westwood, and William Ward, and this Court had 
power to make and repeal laws, grant levies, admit freemen, 
dispose of unappropriated lands, and discipline any one, 
even a court magistrate. There was no check upon its 
power, except the provision that its acts must not be con- 
trary to the laws of England, and within such lines it had 
absolute power over life, liberty, and property. As we have 
seen, it gave little thought to the common law of England, 
but Roger Ludlow was there, a man thoroughly trained 
in English precedents and the methods of the courts of the 
mother country, and he was probably the most powerful 
influence in those early meetings of the magistrates; if not, 
he would know the reason why, for Ludlow had a temper as 
well as brains and scholarship, and he was practically the 
first governor. This Court made a very modest beginning 
at its first meeting, and did little but elect constables and 
forbid "trade with the natives or Indians any peece, or 
6 81 



82 .A. History of Connecticut 

pistoll, or gunn, or powder, or shott." It was ordered that 
any stray swine should be confined two weeks, and if they 
were then unclaimed, they should be sold. This suggests 
the policy of the settlers in their court procedure: to make 
their laws to fit the cases as they arose, meet all occa- 
sions with common sense and practical measures, and let 
their jurisprudence evolve with the growth of society. At 
New Haven it was somewhat different, for the Old Testa- 
ment laws had a stronger hold there, and of course there 
was a large supply of common sense on the Sound as well as 
on the Connecticut. In both colonies it was the policy to 
face the intricate often vexing questions of the new govern- 
ment, and to undertake the laborious duties of society with 
calm deliberation and good judgment. 

The second session of this Court was held in Windsor, and 
the third in Wethersfield, and as we shall see, this plain 
gathering of straightforward magistrates became in 1639, 
the General Court, the heart of authority in the common- 
wealth, and the mother of all the other courts that came 
into existence as occasion required. Since the "Corte" for 
which the mother colony so thoughtfully arranged was the 
only legal authority there was the first year, it fined a citizen 
for cursing, and ordered that no one should "drink" any 
but home-raised tobacco ; it also passed regulations concern- 
ing courting, but by degrees it divested itself of a part of 
its judicial power by constituting local tribunals for settling 
of estates and to try cases whether of witchcraft, theft, 
sailing a boat on Sunday, or murder. The election of depu- 
ties after the adoption of the Fundamental Orders in 1639, 
was the beginning of the two houses of the legislature, the 
germ of which is found in the committees from the towns 
which had met previously with the magistrates. In 1645, 
a step was taken toward the ultimate division into Senate 
and House by the provision that no act of the General 
Court should become a law, without the concurrence of the 
magistrates and deputies. When Connecticut and New 



Courts and Laws 83 

Haven were united in 1664, the General Court became the 
General Assembly, and in 1698, the distinction between the 
governor and council as one house and the deputies as 
the other was made distinct. 

In accordance with the only sensible course, there was a 
division of labors as early as 1638, a year before the adoption 
of the Orders, when the General Court organized a Particular 
Court to meet in Hartford on the first Tuesday in May for 
the trial of two persons charged with misdemeanors. This 
Court was doubtless made up of magistrates, and it be- 
came a tribunal less formal than the General Court, meeting 
more frequently for the trial of cases. It had no stated 
time for its sessions and was held once in Wethersfield, once 
in New London, and the rest of the time in Hartford. It 
was probably held in the meeting-house or the house of a 
magistrate at first, and as the years passed court-houses 
became necessary. The methods were simplicity itself, 
as lawyers were rare; rules of evidence hardly thought of; 
magistrates conducted the examination of witnesses; argu- 
ments were infrequent; judgment was based on conscience 
rather than on legal precedent. The Fundamental Orders 
make no reference to it, but it continued to hold sessions at 
irregular times until May, 1642, when it was enacted that it 
should meet only once in three months, and should be known 
thereafter as the Quarter Court. The times of meeting 
were the first Thursdays in March, June, September, and 
December. When held at other times, it was called the 
Particular Court. 

The earliest record of the definite formation of a court 
is in May, 1647, when the General Court enacted that it 
should consist of the governor, deputy governor, and two 
magistrates: and in the absence of the executive officers, 
three magistrates should hold court. Its jurisdiction ex- 
tended to all minor disputes and it was purely judicial in 
its construction, though its functions included both civil 
and criminal cases. While it was a court of appeal from 



84 «A History of Connecticut 

inferior tribunals, its decisions could be appealed to the 
General Court. In civil cases, where the amounts involved 
exceeded forty shillings, the trial, at the discretion of the 
magistrates, could be submitted to a jury of six or twelve, 
and two thirds of their number could render a legal verdict. 
If, in the opinion of the magistrates, the verdict was not in 
accordance with the testimony, they could empower the 
jury to reconsider its decision, or impanel another, if the 
jury had not "attended to the evidence." In suits for 
damages, if the magistrates deemed the sum allowed exor- 
bitant or inadequate, they had power to alter it, if done in 
open court. In July, 1643, provision was made for a grand 
jury of twelve or fourteen able men to present breaches of 
laws or misdemeanors. As the magistrates received only 
fees for their services, a statute was passed to oblige persons 
to pay the costs of prosecution before leaving court, or 
suffer imprisonment. The inferior judicial bodies were 
limited to the township, and were called town courts, con- 
sisting of three, five, or six men, who were called principal 
men, or town's men, afterwards selectmen, who were elected 
annually, and one of their number was chosen moderator, 
whose presence was required to form a quorum. Their 
judicial powers were confined to claims of debt and trespass, 
where the amount involved was less than forty shillings, 
and before the execution was issued the case could be ap- 
pealed. Sessions of the town court were held once in two 
months. Thus we see that up to the time of the charter 
there were three courts, General, Particular, and Town — 
tribunals to decide cases according to "conscience and 
righteousness." 

After the charter there were changes as settlements 
multiplied, and counties were formed, with courts according 
to the new divisions. In 1665, the colony was divided into 
four counties — Hartford, New Haven, New London, and 
Fairfield. The old Particular or Quarter Court gave way 
to the Court of Assistants, so called because it was composed 



Courts and Laws 85 

of a majority of the assistants, the successors of the magis- 
trates of the old General Court, and this was constituted 
in October, 1665, with jurisdiction over crimes relating to 
life, limb, banishment, and appellate, also questions of divorce 
and admiralty. It was held semi-annually, one week before 
the General Assembly. When the counties were organized, 
a County Court was established in each, of three assistants 
and two commissioners, afterwards called justices of the 
peace. In 1698, it was voted that in each county, four of 
the most able and judicious freemen should be justices, 
three of whom, with a judge appointed by the General 
Assembly, should have power to hold a County Court. In 
October, 1698, it was voted that three justices could hold 
court. From that time until 1821, the formation of County 
Courts was unchanged with one judge and from two to 
five justices of the peace, all commissioned by the General 
Assembly. From 1821, to 1839, there were three judges. 
In 1839, a county commissioner was added; in 1853, the 
County Courts were abandoned, to give way to one judge and 
two or three commissioners. The jurisdiction of the County 
Court was at first substantially the same as that of the 
Particular Court. It had power in settling property, and 
probating wills, and also over prerogative powers that were 
transferred to it. It could try all cases, "real, personal or 
mixt," and all criminal cases, "not extending to life, limb, 
banishment, adultery or divorce." In 1798, it was pro- 
hibited from trying cases whose punishment extended to 
confinement in Newgate, except horse-stealing. 

In 1669, the Town Courts were reorganized, to consist of 
an assistant or commissioner and two selectmen, and appeals 
could be taken to the County Court, thence to the Court 
of Assistants, then to General Assembly. In 171 1, the 
Court of Assistants was superseded by the Superior Court, 
with powers of the older tribunal transferred to it, namely, 
punishment of offenders, civil causes, appeals, and writs of 
error. It held sessions in each of the counties, having a 



86 .A. History of Connecticut 

chief judge and four others, — the governor as chief judge 
and the rest from the council. The power of the Superior 
Court gradually increased; in 1762, authority was given to 
it to grant new trials on discovery of new evidence and 
afford equitable relief up to one hundred pounds; later to 
four hundred pounds and in 1778, to eight hundred pounds, 
while cases relating to sums under one hundred pounds went 
to the County Courts. In 1784, it was enacted that the 
lieutenant-governor and council should be a Supreme Court 
of Errors, to which questions of law and equity from the 
Superior Court should be referred, — to meet annually, al- 
ternating between Hartford and New Haven, and in 1795, 
the governor was added. The docket became so crowded 
with the increase of the population that in 1806, the Su- 
preme Court of Errors ceased, and judges of the Superior 
Court assumed the duties of the court of last resort, and the 
number was raised to one chief judge and eight assistants, 
meeting annually in alternate years in Hartford and New 
Haven. In 18 19, this court consisted of one chief judge 
and four associates. In 1855, the Supreme Court was 
changed to consist of a chief and two associates. In 1859, 
the associates judges were increased to three, and in 1865, 
to four. From the foundation of the Superior Court in 
171 1, the appointment of the judges was by the General 
Assembly year by year, and with the adoption of the consti- 
tution in 18 1 8, it was ordered that they serve during good 
behavior until seventy years old; in 1880, it was voted that 
the governor nominate the judges. Owing to the accumula- 
tion of cases in the Superior Court, the Assembly in 1869, 
established a Court of Common Pleas in Hartford and New 
Haven; New London and Fairfield in 1872; Litchfield in 
1 88 1, with jurisdiction in legal and equitable relief in sums 
from one hundred to five hundred dollars, and later five 
hundred to one thousand dollars, with the concurrence of 
the Superior Court. 

The growth of the Probate Courts has been as follows: 



Courts and Laws 87 

Ludlow's code made provision for the settlement of the 
estates of deceased persons under the title of records. By the 
statute of October 10, 1639, on the death of a person possessed 
of an estate, leaving a will in writing, or by word of mouth, 
those men who were "appointed to order the affairs of the 
town where any such person deceaseth" were to make and 
report a true inventory of the estate, and record the will and 
names of children and legatees within three months. The 
court intended was the Particular Court, which exercised 
probate duties until abandoned. Sometimes there were 
three witnesses, sometimes two, sometimes none. In case 
a person died intestate, the town officers distributed the 
property to the family, or "for the good of the common." 
After the abandonment of the Particular Courts, the pro- 
bate powers went to the County Courts, and in 1698, these 
powers were lodged with the respective judges with two 
justices, and there began the separate Probate Court, in 
that one less judge was needed than for the County Court. 
In 1702, the duty of making an inventory was taken from 
the selectmen and given the executors or administrators. 
In 1 7 16, it was enacted that Courts of Probate be established 
in the several counties, with one judge and a clerk. The 
first probate districts were coextensive with the four original 
counties; the first change to a district less than a county 
was made in 17 19. There were one hundred and twelve 
Probate Courts in 1913. 

The office of justice of the peace began in 1669, when an 
act was passed to empower an assistant or commissioner, 
with the selectmen, to hear and determine cases at which 
less than forty shillings was at stake, with right to appeal to 
the County Court. Various changes in the powers of these 
officers were made from time to time, and it was not till 
1848, that a justice of the peace could sentence a criminal to 
imprisonment, and never over thirty days. Appeals could 
be taken to the higher courts for everything, except convic- 
tions for profanity or Sabbath-breaking. The right of trial 



88 j\ History of Connecticut 

by jury (though declared by the Constitution inviolate) does 
not exist in justice suits, and is only exercised by special 
statutes; when permitted, six persons are selected from the 
jury list of the town. 

As we have seen, the oldest office in Connecticut is the 
constable, originally the military center, and afterwards 
the conspicuous and authoritative peace officer of the colony, 
to put forth hue and cry after murderers, thieves, and robbers ; 
to arrest Sabbath-breakers and vagrants without warrant; 
to keep the oversight of taverns and lock up loiterers. He 
could call on any citizen to aid him, under penalty of ten 
shillings, and, if obstinate, forty shillings. He summoned 
town meetings, enforced the collection of taxes, and helped 
the tithing-men guard the Sabbath. In 17 15, the General 
Assembly ordered that "constables and grand jury men shall 
on the evenings after the Lord's day, and after public days 
of religious solemnity, walk the street, and duly search all 
the places suspected of harboring and entertaining any 
persons assembled contrary to law." These three officers, 
tithing-men, constables, and grand jurors, met in January 
and June to "advise, consider and use their joint interest 
in suppressing profaneness, vice and immorality." These 
officers received two shillings a day for their services as 
police, and their pay came from fines upon offenders. Only 
one was paid for one arrest. The symbol of office was a 
black staff, furnished by the selectmen. There were no 
sheriffs until 1702, though the office had existed from earliest 
times under the name of marshal, and the code of 1650, as- 
sumes it. The marshal was a civil officer, appointed by the 
General Court to preserve order. After the union of Con- 
necticut and New Haven, there was a marshal in every 
county, appointed by the County Courts. In 1702, the 
sheriff superseded the marshal, and in 1722, his duties were 
defined: to conserve peace, suppress riots and tumults and 
summon militia. In 1724, his powers were still further 
enlarged, and he could summon any one to assist him. 



Courts and Laws 89 

Deputy sheriffs were appointed from time to time in the 
eighteenth century, and in 1766, several deputy sheriffs were 
appointed in every county by the sheriffs. In 1724, the 
sheriff was appointed to have charge of the jail, with the 
right to appoint keepers. 

The code of 1650, contains an act, which first appeared 
in 1643, by which it was ordered that a grand jury of twelve 
or fourteen men was warned to appear at every court yearly, 
in September, or as the governor or court found necessary 
to present breaches of laws. When County Courts were 
established, this provision was made applicable to them, and 
twelve grand jurymen were to meet in each of the four 
counties. In 1680, it was ordered that they should serve 
for a year. By 1702, clerks of the several County Courts 
were directed to summon one or more men from every town 
to serve as grand jurors, to report once a month all misde- 
meanors to the next assistant or justice of the peace. These 
men became informing officers, with power to make com- 
plaints individually. They were liable to a penalty of forty 
shillings if they failed to take office when summoned. In 
1 7 12, it was voted that two or more grand jurors be appointed 
at town meetings, and their names reported to the clerk 
of the County Court. The Superior Court summoned its 
own grand jury of eighteen. In capital cases it was neces- 
sary that indictment should be made by a jury of eighteen, 
in which twelve must agree. The constitution of 18 18, 
declared that "no person shall be holden to answer for any 
crime, the punishment of which is death or imprisonment 
for life, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand 
jury." 

This sketch of the development of the courts and various 
offices as occasion arose needs to be supplemented by an 
account of the growth of common and statute law. After 
the adoption of the constitution in 1639, the General Court 
built on that foundation numerous enactments needed to 
perfect the civil organization of the new colony. In October, 



90 .A. History of Connecticut 

1639, Wyllys, Webster, and Spencer were appointed a com- 
mittee to "review all former orders and lawes, and record 
such of them as they conceave to be for publique concern- 
ment; and deliver them into the secretaryes hands to be 
published to the several townes; and all other orders that 
they see cause to omit, to be suspended until the Court 
take further order." There was one manuscript statute 
book for every town, in which the new laws were copied 
after every session. For more than a generation, the laws 
were conveyed to the towns by word of mouth, and once a 
year the constable read the laws to the assembled freemen. 
New Haven taught the advantage of circulation of the 
statutes, which were printed in 1673, and after January, 
1674, every household was required to have a copy. The 
first time that the incorporation of towns was recognized was 
in Ludlow's code, which regarded them as component parts of 
the body politic, but there was no special title given to the 
subject. In the code of 1672, their duties and powers were 
gathered and established. On them was laid the burden 
of supporting the poor, making and repairing roads and 
bridges, and, by taking impost, the responsibility for military 
defense. 

The criminal code was taken with few exceptions from 
that of Massachusetts, which was based on the English law. 
The code of laws was put into shape, as has been said, by 
Roger Ludlow, who Was requested to "take some paynes in 
drawing forth a body of Lawes," by the General Court of 
April 9, 1646, a work which he completed in four years, 
taking fourteen articles from the Body of Liberties of Massa- 
chusetts, adopted in 1641 ; but sixty-three of the articles 
were new and distinct, and the seventy-seven articles from 
the hand of Ludlow were adopted by the General Court in 
May, 1650, and the only recognition of his great service is 
certified by a minute in the records of February 5, i6§2 : 
"This Court grants and orders that the secretary shall be 
allowed and paid the sum of six pounds, being in p't pay- 



Courts and Laws 91 

ment of his great paines in drawing out and transcribing 
the country orders, concluded and established in May last." 
There is no record of a compensation to Ludlow, other than 
the statement that "it is the mynd of the Court that he be 
considered for his paynes." Ludlow's code covers fifty 
pages of the Colonial Records, and his classification was 
retained until 1854, when fifty-eight of his titles, somewhat 
modified, were still used. Ludlow was a man of iron will 
and unyielding integrity, but his tongue was apt to express 
a sharp temper, which sometimes "grew into a passion," 
and after his great work of codifying the laws ended, he left 
Connecticut. In 1654, ne carried out a plan he had defined 
at Boston twenty-two years before, and went back to the 
mother-country, settling in Dublin, where he served on the 
first Irish commission under Cromwell, and afterwards was 
made a Master in Chancery. 

A new era began with the union of Connecticut and New 
Haven, and the revised code went into effect in January, 
1664, with suffrage limited, punishments still tainted by 
medievalism, religious freedom unknown, land held by 
tenures, which were free from the dangers of forfeiture, since 
no property reverted to the colony. The subject of educa- 
tion was prominent in legislation by 1672, and many of the 
regulations then passed remained in force for two hundred 
years. Divorce became a fruitful cause for legislation, and 
four divorces were allowed in 1653. The grounds for divorce 
given in 1677, at a time when no divorces were granted in 
any other Christian country, were adultery, fraudulent con- 
tract, willful neglect of duty, and seven years' providential 
absence, without being heard from. 

In the preface to the revision of 1672, it was declared 
that it was not the purpose of the planters "to impugn 
the state laws of England so far as we understand them," 
and while the legislature was independent, not taking the 
trouble to ask what was the law of England, the common 
law of the mother-country slowly and insidiously grew into 



92 A. History of Connecticut 

the decisions of the colony as the lawyers and judges here 
became better educated, and it came to pass that Connecti- 
cut common law rested on English common law in recogni- 
tion of its wisdom and propriety. The declaration of the 
Fundamental Orders of 1639, that the General Court should 
embody the supreme power of the commonwealth, and the 
bill of rights in the code of 1650, by which no person should 
be damaged in life, liberty, and property, "unless it be by 
virtue or equity of some express law of the county warrant- 
ing the same, established by the General Court and suffi- 
ciently published, or in the case of the defect of a law in any 
particular case by the word of God," were a practical repu- 
diation of the common law. It was the intention of the 
settlers to base the government on a code and in harmony 
with revealed religion. There was a radical departure from 
English methods, in equipping the government with an 
executive head without power, and a strong legislature, in 
combining law-making and law-interpreting, in the recogni- 
tion of equality among men, and in refusing to admit classes, 
titles, and aristocracy, though there was quite enough of 
caste in many communities. 

Primogeniture rested on the Mosaic code, and was 
adopted in England as a military necessity in rude times, 
but it was never adopted in Connecticut, not even in the 
code of 1650, which permitted all persons of twenty-one 
years to make such wills and alienation of land as they chose. 
The law of 1672, provided that property of persons dying 
intestate should be divided among wife and children accord- 
ing to equity. In 1699, a law was passed in Connecticut 
providing that there should be an equal distribution of the 
whole estate, except a double share to the eldest son. This act 
was annulled in 1727, because contrary to the law of England, 
but the colony never paid any attention to the annulment. 

In May, 1776, there was passed what has been called 
"the most important statute in Connecticut history." It 
was then enacted that the 



GENERAL HISTORY 

CONNECTICUT, 

FROM ITS 

Firft Settlement under George Fenwick, Efq. 

TO ITS 

Lateft Period of Amity with Great Britain. 

INCLUDING 

A DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY, 

And many curious and interesting Anecdotes. 

To which is added, 

An AppiNDit, wherein new and the true Sources of the prefent 
Rebellion in America are pointed out ; together with the particu- 
lar Part taken by the People of Connecticut in it» Promotion. 

By a G e n t l e m a n of the Province.' 

Plus iifud me ratio valtbtt, quam ~v*fgi opinio. 

Cic. Parad. I. 

LONDON: 

Printed for the A uthos ; 
And laid by J. Bew, No. zS, Patcr-Nofter Rov/, 

MDCCLXXXI. 

Facsimile of the Title-page of Peter's History 

This history of Connecticut by the loyalist Rev. Samuel A. Peters gave occasion 

to the Connecticut "Blue Law" tradition. A copy of the first edition, 

printed in London, 1781, is in the Connecticut State Library 



Courts and Laws 93 

form of Civil Government in this State shall continue to be 
established by charter received from Charles II., King of Eng- 
land, so far as an adherence to the same will be consistent with 
the absolute independence of this State on the Crown of Great 
Britain, and that all officers civil and military heretofore ap- 
pointed by the State, continue in the execution of their several 
offices, and the laws of this State shall continue in force until 
otherwise ordered ; and that for the future all writs and processes 
of law and equity shall issue in the name of the governor and 
company of the State of Connecticut, and that in all summonses, 
attachments and other processes before any Assistants or Justices 
of the Peace, "one of His majesty's Justices of the Peace" be 
omitted, and that instead thereof be inserted "Justice of the 
Peace," and that no writ or process shall have or bear any date, 
save the year of our Lord only, any law, usage, or custom to 
the contrary notwithstanding. 

Of all the laws of Great Britain, under which the colonists 
lived when the supreme head was an English king, only one 
has remained in force: an act of Parliament passed in 1762, 
establishing the Gregorian calendar. The steadiness of the 
Connecticut temper is seen in the lack of radical changes in 
the laws up to the Revolution. After the revision of 1702, 
forty years passed before there was another. 

There has long been a keen interest in the Connecticut 
"Blue Laws," and after years of attack and defense, it is 
possible now to consider the subject reasonably. Before 
the Revolution, there existed the phrase, current in New 
York, Massachusetts, and even New Haven — "Connecticut 
Blue Laws." It is a colloquial term applied to severe and 
antiquated laws found on the statute books of the older 
colonies, of which Connecticut was believed to possess an 
unusually stern edition. Soon after the Revolution, this 
state was made still more conspicuous by the publishing of 
a history by an Episcopal minister, Samuel Peters, who was 
born in Hebron in 1735, became rector of the little church 
in his native town, where he lived until the Revolution. 



94 A. History of Connecticut 

His aggressive loyalist convictions provoked the resentment 
of the Sons of Liberty, and a party of them threatened 
him with tar and feathers, and compelled him to promise 
to refrain from meddling with political affairs. Repeated 
offenses led to a second visit, and Peters, putting on his 
priestly robes, addressed the crowd, "quibbling and equivo- 
cating," as the story comes down to us through biased minds, 
but the men pressed into the parsonage and found loaded 
guns and pistols. Then they seized Peters, tearing his 
clothes, putting him in a cart, they hauled him by his 
own oxen to the Green, where they set him on the public 
horse-block, and forced him to sign a declaration and con- 
fession that he repented of his past misdeeds, and promised 
that he would give no further cause for complaint. He was 
then made to read the papers aloud to the crowd and give 
three cheers. Peters says that the mob "destroyed his 
windows, rent his clothes, almost killed one of his church 
people, tarred and feathered two, and abused others." 
Governor Trumbull ordered the civil authority at Hebron 
to "preserve peace and good order, and put the laws in 
execution." Peters knew he would be safer and happier 
elsewhere, and he soon moved to Boston, and in November, 
1774, sailed for England, sending back letters to friends in 
Hebron, but spies behind stone walls overheard his messen- 
gers talk about the letters, and securing the missives of the 
angry minister they offered the unfortunate letter-carriers a 
whipping or running the gauntlet ; choosing the latter, they 
became the objects of the spite of the Sons and Daughters 
of Liberty of the neighborhood, and were glad to get through 
with their lives. 

Peters was twenty years in England, and it is not sur- 
prising to learn that, burning with rage over the rough treat- 
ment he had received, he published in 1781, a history of 
Connecticut, which no one can read without seeing that 
there is opportunity for self-control and judgment in coming 
to a conclusion upon the Munchausen writings of a man who 




■a s 

2 w 



w 



— o 

n u 






U3 .a 



Courts and Laws 95 

speaks of the water at Bellows Falls as so "consolidated by 
pressure, by swiftness, between the pinching, sturdy rocks, 
to such a degree of induration that no iron crow can be forced 
into it," and the stream is "harder than marble." He also 
speaks of the "infamous villainy of Hooker, who spread 
death upon the leaves of his Bible, and struck Connecticote 
(a great sachem) mad with disease," and of the conviction 
and punishment of an Episcopal minister in 1750, for break- 
ing the Sabbath by walking too fast from church and comb- 
ing a lock of his wig on Sunday. As specimens of the "Blue 
Code of Connecticut," he says, it "made it criminal in a 
mother to kiss her infant on the Sabbath-day"; "Every 
male shall have his hair cut round according to a cap"; 
"No one shall read Common Prayer, keep Christmas or 
Saints-days, make minced pies, dance, play cards, or play 
on any instrument of music, except the drum, trumpet and 
Jews' harp." It must be admitted that the irritated Peters 
went beyond his authorities in these statements, but it must 
also be said that in the large majority of the forty-five laws 
which he collected, there was a basis not only in the statutes 
of New Haven and Connecticut, but also in the laws and 
courts of Massachusetts, whence, as we have noticed, most 
of the Connecticut laws were derived. The injustice of the 
Blue Law charge is in singling out Connecticut for derision, 
and in publishing four ridiculous laws which had a place 
only in Peters's heated imagination. In 163 1, Massachu- 
setts passed a law that no man should court a maid unless 
by consent of the parents, and Connecticut borrowed it. 
In 1647, Massachusetts passed a law to banish Quakers, 
under penalty of death if they returned, while New Haven 
never threatened Quakers with death, but gave a choice of 
imprisonment, banishment, whipping, and branding, with 
the expenses paid by the resolute visitors. The law against 
card-playing prevailed in Massachusetts as well as in Con- 
necticut, and as late as 18 12, seven young men in New 
Haven were fined for violation of this law. The law that 



96 -A. History of Connecticut 

married people should live together was no bluer in Con- 
necticut than in Massachusetts. The law permitting the 
rack or torture in examination of witnesses, or, as we should 
now say, "third degree," was a law of Massachusetts too, 
though it was not to be "inhumane." 

It would be impossible to give more than the faintest 
idea of the regulations in the different towns, ranging from 
settling a minister to killing blackbirds and rattlesnakes. 
Swine appear to have been one of the most fruitful topics. 
Innumerable were the perplexities that came up year after 
year. Sometimes they were ordered to be rung and yoked; 
sometimes to be confined, then again they could go at large. 
Here is a sample vote passed in Norwich: "In the time of 
acorns, we judge it may be profitable to suffer swine two 
months or thereabouts to go in the woods without rings." 
Yokes were to be two feet in length, and six inches above 
the neck. The recording of cattle marks was a serious task, 
and necessary, as pasture lands were held in common, and 
private fences often insecure. These marks were made on 
the ear, and were a cross, a half-cross, and various kinds of 
slits and notches. The towns were in the habit of making 
grants of land to those who promoted public improvement. 
Hugh Amos, who in 1681, first established a ferry over 
Shetucket River, received one hundred acres of land. Millers 
and blacksmiths were so valuable that they were given prizes 
of land. In 1680, Captain Fitch of Norwich was granted two 
hundred acres on condition that he build a saw mill in a cer- 
tain place. Thomas Harris of Glastonbury received in 1667, 
a grant of forty acres of land on condition that he should 
build a saw mill in Glastonbury. There was much confusion 
in the deeds and lines, because of imperfect surveys and 
vague and contradictory deeds. Many of the bounds were 
transitory, as appears when one considers such bounds as 
these, — a black oak with a crotch, a white oak, a tree with 
a heap of stones around it, a bowlder, a clump of chestnuts, 
a walnut with a limb lopped off, and a birch with a gash in it. 




The Tapping Reeve Law School. The First Law School in the Country 




Tapping Reeve (i 744-1823) 

From an Old Print 



Courts and Laws 97 

Connecticut has had many distinguished lawyers, as 
might be imagined from the quality of the settlers, the con- 
ditions favoring strong individuality and the establishment, 
in 1784, of the first American law school in Litchfield. 
Tapping Reeve was the founder of the school, and after 
exerting a profound influence upon successive classes of 
students in his school, he became judge of the Superior 
Court, and then chief justice. Reeve was a man who "loved 
law as a science and studied it as a philosopher." It was 
from Litchfield that the first volume of reported law cases 
printed in the United States appeared in 1789. Among the 
graduates of the school were five Cabinet ministers, two 
justices of the United States Supreme Court, ten governors 
of states, sixteen United States senators, fifty members of 
Congress, forty judges of the higher state courts, and eight 
chief justices of the state. 

In the constitutional convention of 1787, the three 
lawyers from Connecticut, Sherman, Ellsworth, and John- 
son, contributed keenness, good judgment, and experience. 
In 1789, Oliver Ellsworth was sent to represent the state 
at the first session of the Senate; he was made chairman 
of the judiciary committee, and drew up the act of Con- 
gress under which the courts of the United States were 
organized after the pattern found in Connecticut, the 
merit of which appears in the fact that they remained sub- 
stantially unchanged for a hundred years. In 1795, Chief 
Justice Swift published at Windham the first general and 
systematic treatise on the laws of any state, it being the 
System of the Laws of the State of Connecticut. In 18 10, 
Swift became the author of the first American treatise on the 
law of evidence, it being also the first American case-book, 
for use in legal education, and in 1823, he published the 
first American work descriptive of the whole body of law 
and equity. 

Jeremiah Mason, who was born in Lebanon in 1768, 
became United states Senator and attorney-general of New 



98 A. History of Connecticut 

Hampshire, of whom Daniel Webster said: "Of my own 
professional discipline and attainments, whatever they may 
be, I owe much to that close attention to the discharge of 
my duties, which I was compelled to pay for nine successive 
years from day to day, to Mr. Mason's efforts and arguments 
at the same bar." Webster said also: "Go as deep as you 
will, you will always find Jeremiah Mason below you." 
From Bozrah went Reuben H. Hyde to be chancellor of 
New York, and Story called him "the greatest equity judge 
of his time." Lyme has furnished three chief justices of 
the Supreme Court of the state, Henry M. Waite, Matthew 
Griswold, Jr., and Roger Griswold ; also Judge C. J. McCurdy 
and M. R. Waite, chief justice of the United States. 

Connecticut has been a leader in making law, of which 
there are three important instances according to Simeon E. 
Baldwin : 

i. The common law excluded from the witness-stand 
every one who had a pecuniary interest in the event of the ac- 
tion. The first statute to abolish the rule was by the General 
Assembly, in 1848, and the author of the reform was Justice 
McCurdy of Lyme, who, on going abroad later on diplomatic 
service, brought it to the attention of some men of influence 
in England; in 1851, Parliament took similar action, and 
every other state in the Union has adopted the method of 
McCurdy. 

2. The United States inherited an artificial system of 
legal remedies, and in 1879, Connecticut enacted a brief 
"Practice Act," leaving all details to be worked out through 
rules adopted from time to time by the judges of the higher 
courts. Of this act David Dudley Field, an author of the 
New York code, said that it was the best form yet devised, 
and it has remained substantially unchanged for thirty 
years. 

3. In 1895, Connecticut took action to prevent the 
marriage of the unfit, extending the prohibition to paupers, 
epileptics, and imbeciles. 



REPORTS 



F 



CASES 

ADJUDGED IN THE 

SUPERIOR COURT 



O F T H E 



State of Connefticut. 

Fro m the Y f. a r i 785, to Mav 1788 



WITH SOME 



DETERMINATIONS 



IN THE 



SUPREME COURT OF ERRORS. 



By EPHRAIM KIRBY, Esquire. 



LITCHFIELD: Printed by COLLIER (3 ADAM. 

M,DCC" ; L*XX1X# 

Facsimile of the Title-page of the First Published Law Reports in 

America 

It is from the original volume in the possession of the Connecticut State Library 



Courts and Laws 99 

This is a good place in which to speak of the seal of the 
state. In a paper by Roger Wolcott, written in 1759, he says 
that his stepfather, Daniel Clark, secretary of the colony 
between 1658, and 1666, told him that the seal was given 
the colony by George Fenwick, agent for the proprietors, 
under the Warwick patent. There is an impression of this 
seal in the State Library; it is in wax and is affixed to the 
commission of John Winthrop as magistrate of New London 
in 1647. It represents a vineyard of fifteen vines, with a hand 
above, and the motto, "Svstinet qvi transtvlit." It was 
ordered in 1662, that the seal previously used remain the seal 
of the colony, and the first printed revision of the statutes 
made in 1673, had, by order of the Assembly, an impression 
of it on the title page. When Andros took the government 
in 1687, the seal disappeared, and Gershom Bulkley says 
John Allyn delivered it to Andros. When the charter 
government was resumed in 1689, a larger seal was made with 
the motto, "Svstinet qvi transtvlit," and no further change 
was made until the next century when a new stamp was 
ordered, suitable to seal wafers. It was larger, and instead 
of fifteen vines, it had but three, with a hand pointing to 
them, and on a label below, the motto, "Qvi transtvlit 
svstinet." Around the seal are the words, "Sigillvm 
Coloniae Connecticensis." In 1747, the Assembly ordered 
that the oval be changed to a circle, and engraved, with 
corrections of mistakes, but nothing was done. In May, 
1784, the Assembly voted to change the words around the 
seal to "Sigill. reip. Connecticutensis," but the inscription 
was cut without abbreviation, though the shortened form 
is in the engravings of that period. In October, 1784, the 
new seal was approved, and ordered to be kept by the 
secretary. In the constitution of 18 18, it was ordered that 
the seal be not altered, and now there are two seals: one 
procured in 1842, for sealing with wax or wafer, a seal with 
three clusters of grapes on each vine, made of brass; the 
other, used on paper, without wax, and declared sufficient 



ioo A. History of Connecticut 

in 1 85 1 ; supposed to have been obtained in 1782. The first 
issue of bills of credit in 1709, has the seal with three vines. 
When small bills were issued in 1777, a small seal with one 
vine was used; it was used also in the secretary's office to 
seal letters. 




Seals of Connecticut and Hooker's Declaration 

This collection of seals, with Hooker's concise statement of the reason for the migration from 
Massachusetts to Connecticut, is the central panel in the floor in Memorial Hall in the Con- 
necticut State Library. The lower seal at the left is the English seal used during colonial 
days; that at the right of this was in use, 1711-1784. The upper right-hand seal came 
into use in 1662, and disappeared in 1787, when Andros was governor. That at the upper 
left was made in 1784, and the Constitution of 1818, declared that it should not be altered. 
It is now in use. 



CHAPTER VIII 
HOW THE PEOPLE LIVED IN THE EARLY DAYS 

HOWEVER important we may consider a clear view of the 
settlement, government, and courts of Connecticut, 
the question how the people lived appeals to most of us more 
intimately. The story is an interesting one, because of the 
vigor of the actors and the variety and strenuousness of the 
surroundings. It is a story of resolute men and women 
making their way into a stern situation, and with good sense, 
ingenuity, steady nerves, and unconquerable resolution 
carrying their task through. The Puritans, unable to re- 
form the church at home, and unwilling longer to brave the 
hostility of William Laud, who wielded the despotic power 
of the star-chamber, came to America to build after their 
own ideas a state, in which Christian institutions should 
exist in their simplest forms. None, save the Pilgrims at 
Plymouth, had renounced the Church of England, or sepa- 
rated from its communion, and only one boat-load of these 
came to Connecticut, faring so badly at Windsor, that their 
neighbors at Plymouth preferred to bear the ills there, 
rather than to crowd in where they were not wanted. The 
settlers of Connecticut were members of a great religious 
and political party, in an age when every man's religion was 
a matter of political regulation. They were in the reforming 
party in church and state, earnest, determined, practical 
men, with a keen sense of the presence of God and of the 
value of their theory of civil government. Though humble 

IOI 



102 j\ History of Connecticut 

before God, they proposed to follow their convictions with- 
out fear or favor. They were plain, shrewd, straightfor- 
ward people, who usually knew what they wanted to do, 
and went at once to the point. Even their burial service 
suggests their dread of ceremony, for Lechford says of the 
customs about 1640: "Nothing is read, or any funeral 
sermon made, but all the neighborhood, or a good com- 
pany of them, come together by tolling bell, and carry the 
dead solemnly to his grave, and stand by while buried." 
Their seriousness made it hard for them to enjoy certain 
jokes as appears from a record of 1648, as follows: "The 
Court adjudgeth Peter Bussaker for his filthy and profane 
expressions (namely, that he hoped to meete some of the 
members of the church in hell ere long, and he did not but 
question that he should) to be committed to prison, there 
to be kept in safe custody, till the sermon, and then to stand 
the time thereof in the pillory, and after the sermon to be 
severely whipped." 

There is a type of mind which cannot think of Puritan- 
ism save as "mere acrid defiance, and sanctimonious 
sectarianism, nor of the Puritans save as a band of ignorant 
and half crazy zealots." A calmer and clearer view of them 
leads us to see that they were, as Bradford said, "muskeeto 
proof, " and that they were also men with a passion for God 
and the kingdom of heaven which often gave to their devo- 
tion to righteousness a seriousness which easily became 
sternness; a devotion like that of Cromwell, a keen convic- 
tion of the sovereignty of God as the absolute and invincible 
authority over all. They believed that things are right 
or wrong because they are made so by the fiats of their 
infinite Ruler and King. That they were not depressed 
by this conception, and did not become weak and dreamy, 
is due to the fact that with their practical, Teutonic ambi- 
tion for trade and enterprise they had too much else to do, 
and while they were idealists, they were too busy to become 
morbid, and had too much common sense to brood. The 



How tKe People Lived in tKe E-arly Days 103 

fashion of speaking of them as joyless and hopeless, of 
dwelling in gloom and severity upon the dismal and the dis- 
agreeable, is appropriate for a mind soured as was that of 
Samuel Peters, but read the quaint humor of that sturdy 
age. Notice how readily the writers of that day passed 
into rhyme. Husbands and wives loved each other as 
tenderly as now, though not every woman could express her 
affection for her husband as gracefully as Margaret Win- 
throp. "Faith in God, faith in man, faith in work," this, 
as Lowell says, is the formula which sums up the teaching 
of the founders of New England. Our account of Puritan 
character were incomplete without reference to the Blue 
Laws, described at length in the preceding chapter, and to 
the distorted portraiture Samuel Peters made of the Con- 
necticut Puritans, who he said "out-pop'd the Pope, out- 
king'd the King and out-bishop'd the Bishops." 

A more cheerful view of the seventeenth century in 
Connecticut is found in the daily life of the Puritans. There 
was much of warfare in it ; whether their axes bit their way 
into the forest, or the night wind brought the howl of the 
wolf — a sound dreaded by the bravest — there was little time 
for reverie. Governor Leete, while chief magistrate of the 
colony, kept a country store for the convenience of his 
neighbors at Guilford, and his sons were taught to toil in 
the field. Governor Treat was as well skilled in the faculty 
of ploughing a cornfield, or mowing a field of grass, as in 
fighting for the colony or defending the charter, and his 
father, Richard Treat, one of the first men in the colony, 
daily crossed the Connecticut in a boat and helped break 
up the stiff sward of Glastonbury. Winthrop endured 
severe hardships going from place to place to serve as 
magistrate, mediating between contending parties, pro- 
curing and defending land titles, and fulfilling the office 
of physician. Industry, frugality, thrift, and honest work 
were wrought into the foundations of the commonwealth. 

The earliest houses of logs soon gave way to frame 



104 -A. History of Connecticut 

houses, or even to stone, as in the case of a house built in 
1640, in Guilford, by the Rev. Henry Whitfield, its solid 
and massive walls still celebrating the fame of one of the 
founders of Guilford. An occasional style in early times 
was the old plank frame dwellings, whose sides were com- 
monly of two-inch plank, spiked perpendicularly to the 
heavy framework, and either clapboarded or shingled on the 
outside. There was little studding used on the inside, and 
even the partitions were often of inch lumber carried from 
floor to cross-beams, with a paneled base. In the central 
part of the house was a chimney with many flues, being 
about twelve feet square in the foundations, and sometimes 
containing a small room on the first floor. The typical 
house of the first period was of two stories, with two rooms 
in each story, and the large chimney between. On one side 
of the chimney was the stairway leading to the second story. 
The cellar usually extended under only a part of the house. 
The frame was of oak, and the walls were not sheathed, 
but the space between the studs was often filled in with 
clay mixed with hay. The exterior was covered with wide 
clapboards, and the hand-rived shingles on the roof would 
last one hundred years ; those on the roof of the Farmington 
meeting-house lasted one hundred and thirty-five years. 
The interior was ceiled, or sometimes left unfinished. 
Across the center of each room from wall to chimney ran 
an immense beam parallel with the front of the house. This 
beam was called the summer or the summer-tree, and was 
either boxed in or left as the axe hewed it. In many of the 
houses, the second story overhung the first, and was over- 
hung by the attic. The overhanging was produced in this 
way: the corner oaken posts were placed with the larger 
part at the top, and, just below the second story, a part of 
the thickness was hewn away, leaving a scroll-like ornament 
called a corbel, and the second story projecting over the 
first about four inches, with sometimes a pendant at the 
corner. As wealth and family increased, such a two-story 



How tKe People Lived in tKe Early Days 105 

house was enlarged by extending the rear roof to the level 
of the first story, giving a place for three rooms behind the 
original two rooms, with a loft above. The middle room 
of these three was the kitchen with its capacious fireplace, 
and later on a brick oven in the chimney, in which number- 
less pies were baked. One of the other rooms was a pantry 
or buttery, and the third a bedroom. Such a house was 
called a lean-to, or in some places a salt-box house from its 
resemblance to the salt-box hanging in the chimney corner. 
It is said that this form of roof was adopted to avoid an 
extra tax. 

Not far from the time that the lean-to house was intro- 
duced the gambrel roof came into fashion — so named be- 
cause of its fancied resemblance to the hind leg of a horse. 
After a time, the builders began to put in two chimneys 
and have an entry run through the middle of the house, 
though many conservatives clung to the older style, 
often the lean-to was given up, and instead a shed was 
built. Houses were usually large, as lumber was plenty and 
children apt to be numerous. Fireplaces were commonly 
large. The Shipman House in South Glastonbury contains 
a fireplace nine feet and five inches in length, four and a 
half feet high, three feet deep, and two brick ovens. Often 
there was a porch in front, with a chamber over it. That of 
Thomas Hooker, had a porch, and the chamber over it was the 
preacher's study. The early houses were often built of wood 
put up cob-house fashion, or having posts at the corners with 
small branches of trees between, and clay mixed with hay. 
These chimneys were lined with clay, and were inspected 
often by the chimney- viewers. Brick chimneys were in the 
houses of the wealthy, but catted chimneys, as those we have 
just described were called, were common. In Hartford, it 
was voted in 1640, that "every householder shall provide 
a sufficient ladder standing at his houseside, reaching to 
the ridge of his house, or within two feet, by his chimney." 
Chimney-viewers were to examine the chimneys every six 



106 .A. History of Connecticut 

weeks in winter and every quarter in summer. It was also 
ordered in 1640, that "Jo Gening shall sweep all chimneys, 
and have 6d for brick and 3d for clay." 

Later, there was a change in the style of building houses, 
and the house of Colonel Joseph Pitkin, built in 1726, in 
East Hartford is a good illustration of the substantial homes 
before the Revolution. It was built after the old scribe 
method by which every stud or piece of timber was marked 
or scribed for the particular place it was to occupy. The 
sills were of oak, forty-one feet long, eight by ten inches. 
The building had oak posts nine by nine inches at the bot- 
tom and ten by fifteen inches at the top, being mortised about 
half-way up to receive the cross-beams of white oak, eight 
by twelve inches. The beams were thirty feet long and 
carried the weight of the second floor without any studding 
to support them. The interior finish was heavy paneling 
of native yellow and white pine. The main plates were 
of white oak forty-one feet long and seven inches square, 
which were securely framed into the posts. The king 
rafters were of white oak, five by six inches and twenty- two 
feet long. Some of the boards were twenty-six inches wide, 
and there were five large fireplaces. Several of the sleeping 
rooms had beds the posts of which were mortised into the 
floor and extended to the ceiling, supporting a framework 
from which draped a heavy curtain. The house was studded 
with three-by-four oak studs, mortised into the sills and 
plates, to which were nailed the sheathing boards, the edges 
of the sheathing being beveled so as to make a tight joint, 
and then reinforced by an inner sheathing upon which the 
laths were nailed to receive the inner finish of plaster. 
Paper was in use before the Revolution, and in the room 
in the Webb House in Wethersfield in which Washington 
rested, the paper was imported from England, and is rich 
and heavy. Nails, hinges, and latches were hammered out 
on the anvil. 

Coming now to the food of the people, we start with the 



How tKe People Lived in tKe Early Days 107 

breakfast of the farmers, which often consisted of a soup 
made of salt meat and beans, seasoned with herbs, — a dish 
called bean-porridge. Dinner was the substantial meal, 
and was served at noon; a large Indian meal pudding, with 
an appropriate sauce, was often the first course, and was so 
filling that the boiled beef or pork which followed was 
attacked less ravenously, — a prudent expedient, as meat 
was not always plentiful, though those living near river and 
Sound could easily obtain fish, and at certain seasons 
game was abundant. The waters teemed with fish, and 
both salmon and shad were caught in great numbers, and 
salted for home and foreign use. It was an occasional 
custom of apprentices, in binding themselves to their 
masters, to stipulate that salmon should not be served oftener 
than twice a week; and at times shad were so plenty and 
cheap, that it was considered disreputable for any but 
"poor folks to eat shad." In all but the most wealthy 
families, food was cooked in the apartment where it was 
eaten, at the large fireplace, and a trammel in the 
chimney, by means of its hook, which could be moved up 
or down, held the kettle at the right distance above the 
fire. At one end of the fireplace there came in time an oven, 
and there were also the gridiron, a long-handled frying-pan, 
and a spit for roasting before the fire. At the end of the 
room were pewter platters, porringers, and basins, also a brass 
ladle, skimmer, colander, and warming-pan. A brew-house 
was a necessity, and beer as often on the table as bread. 
Seeds of vegetables were imported, and while potatoes were 
regarded with suspicion for many years — making their entry 
into the menu at about 1720, and used sparingly — turnips 
were much enjoyed, as were peas, beans, and pumpkins. 
Succotash, name and dish borrowed from the Indians, was 
soon popular in August and September, when Indian corn 
was in the milk and beans were plenty. Hasty pudding, 
consisting of boiled meal of corn or rye, and sweetened with 
molasses or maple syrup on the table, was a common food. 



108 .A. History of Connecticut 

Brown bread, "rye and injun," a mixture of two parts corn- 
meal and one part rye, was the bread of the majority of the 
people. 

Very substantial food was served at supper. It was 
almost always cold, with an occasional variation of cakes 
of corn-meal, rye, or buckwheat. Samp and hominy were 
enjoyed by both Indians and English. Baked beans formed 
a nourishing food from early times and the favorite time 
for them was Saturday night. The regular dinner on 
Saturdays (not on Fridays, which would have savored of the 
papacy) was salted codfish. The dishes were of pewter, 
wood, and crockery, though there was not much of the last 
for many years. Chief Justice Ellsworth, who was born in 
Windsor in 1745, told his son that when he was a boy "all 
ate upon wooden trenchers, that manners were then so 
coarse and such as would now in many respects prove 
disgusting, that men in Windsor assembled in each other's 
houses and would drink out a barrel of cider in one night." 
Silver tankards, cups, and spoons were owned by the wealthy, 
but cups, platters, and pitchers were usually of pewter. At 
one house a broken pewter spoon was given to Washington, 
with which to eat bread and milk, he gave the maid two 
shillings to borrow a silver spoon, and she found one at the 
minister's. 

Yankee cooks early achieved a skill that made them 
famous the world over, and before long they became experts 
with berries of all kinds, also with plums, nuts, grapes, and 
apples, which were put into all kinds of preserves, pickles, and 
syrups. There was little money in circulation, and little 
was needed, as most of the living came from forest, field, 
and river. One cone of sugar, weighing ten or fifteen pounds, 
with honey, molasses, and maple syrup would sweeten a 
family for a year. The art of making the syrup was learned 
from the Indians, who made it in large quantities. 

Wind and water were used from early times, though the 
timber of the earliest days was sawn in saw-pits, the "top- 



How tHe People Lived in tHe Early Days 109 

sawyer" standing on the timber, and the "pitman" beneath 
it. Clapboards were split with axes and wedges. In 1677, 
Wethersfield gave Gershom Bulkley, their new minister, 
"liberty to make a mill pond," since it was informed that 
he was "minded to build a corne mill." Wind as a motive 
power was used in grist-mills to some extent. Brick mills 
were in early use; in 1653, Samuel Dickenson, a youth of 
sixteen, was employed by Matthew Williams of Wethers- 
field to assist in making bricks, and was paid sixpence a 
day "in wampum." In 1635, the Court established the 
size of bricks. Tanning and curing the skins of cattle, sheep, 
and goats was an important industry, regulated by law as 
early as 1640. Farmers usually took the pelts of the 
slaughtered animals to the local tanneries, and from the 
hides had boots, shoes, and other useful articles made, as 
the needs called. 

There were few wheeled carriages, besides the rude ox- 
cart, until the middle of the eighteenth century, and not 
many until after the Revolution. It is with a feeling of 
surprise that we read in the will of Jabez Hamlin of Middle- 
town, probated in 1788, of the bequest of "sleigh and riding 
chair" to his widow; that carriage must have been an un- 
usual feature in the quiet town. The first pleasure carriage 
in Litchfield was in 1776, and was owned by a prisoner of 
war. The bridegroom carried his bride home on a pillion 
behind him, if he had not asked a neighbor to be his help- 
meet, and the Sunday worshipers from a distance rode on 
horseback, or went afoot; in winter, sleds drew the devout 
worshipers to the icy meeting-house, where the patient 
hour-glass measured off the long sermons, communion 
bread sometimes froze, and the foot-stoves gave a slight 
relief. 

The militia in the early period covered all of the 
sterner sex between sixteen and sixty, except those who 
were exempt, and men were expected to provide arms and 
ammunition at their own expense, if possible. Soldiers 



no .A. History of Gonnecticvit 

wore corselets and coats quilted with cotton. They car- 
ried pikes, matchlocks, swords, a pair of pouches for pow- 
der and bullets, and a rest, on which to poise the heavy- 
musket when firing. The pikes were ten feet long. The 
train-band was the unit of the army, varying in number 
from fifty-four to two hundred. There were twice as many 
musketeers as pikemen, the latter being of superior stature ; 
trainings began and closed with prayer. 

The prominence of warfare is suggested by the preva- 
lence of military titles. Previous to 1654, captain was the 
highest office in the colony. Captain John Mason of Windsor 
was the first officer of that high rank in Connecticut; and 
he was a noble specimen, tall, portly, soldier-like, with the 
proud consciousness of having served in the Netherlands, 
under William of Orange. Wherever he went, the boys 
and girls looked up to him as though he were a visitor from 
a superior planet. Only a few were called "Mister" or 
"Missis"; the common word for a person above servitude 
and below gentility was "Goodman" or "Goodwife, " 
sometimes "Goody." In New Haven colony "Brother" 
was the common title in early days. There was a decided 
nasal prevalent, a "Puritan heirloom" due possibly to the 
climate, which fosters a chronic cold in the head. 

From earliest times, the smithy was prized, as axes, 
chisels, shovels, picks, hoes, nails, spikes, bolts, and 
iron bars were fashioned there, as well as shoes for oxen 
and horses. Charcoal was in common use, and coal-pits 
abounded in the forests. Cordage was manufactured from 
hemp for the rigging of ships from an early time. Hemp 
was raised in Wethersfield as early as 1640. Fulling mills 
came in the seventeenth century ; carding and weaving were 
done by hand, and there were looms for weaving serges, 
kerseys, flannels, fustians, linsey-woolseys, tow-cloth, dimi- 
ties, and jeans; flax and hemp were the earliest materials, 
and after wolves were subdued, wool came into use. The 
dress was plain homespun and leather, and leather breeches 



How tKe People Lived in tKe Early Days III 

were so full and free in girth, that the front could be changed 
to the rear when signs of wear appeared. In winter, the 
coats of homespun were proof against wind and rain. The 
well-to-do were dressy, wearing shoes of buff leather, and 
through the slashes could be seen scarlet or green stockings. 
Buckles of pinchbeck and silver ornamented with garnets were 
worn at the knee and on the shoe. Ladies wore elegant shoes, 
mourning shoes, fine silk shoes, flowered russet shoes, shoes 
of black velvet, white damask, red morocco, and red ever- 
lasting; damask worsted shoes in red, blue, green, pink, and 
white; shoes of satinet with flowers in the vamp. Those 
who could afford it wore silks, velvets, and beaver; red was 
a favorite colour, with blue as a close second; red cloaks 
were the top of a tireless fashion. Coats of red cloth were 
much worn by the men, with long vests of plush in various 
colors; and plush breeches with no suspenders. The test 
of a well-formed man was his ability to keep his breeches 
above his hips, and his ungartered stockings above his 
calves. In the earliest times men wore the sugar-loaf hat; 
but later, the hats usually had broad brims, turned up into 
three corners. Laborers wore a coarse linen for shirts, and 
striped breeches of the same material ; working women wore 
petticoats and half gowns, drawn about the waist with 
a cord. Hats were made of wool, with the exception of a 
few in every town who took off a costly "black beaverett" 
at the church door. The poorer sort of people wore a 
cap, knit from woolen yarn. The coat was made with a 
long, straight body, falling below the knee, and with no 
collar, so that the band, or neckcloth of spotless linen, 
fastened behind with a silver buckle, was clearly seen. Red 
woolen stockings were much admired. The shoes were 
coarse, square-toed and adorned with large buckles, and if 
any boots appeared, they made a heavy thumping passing 
up the aisles. 

In the years before the Revolution, Connecticut was not 
celebrated for its economy. There was a passion for gather- 



112 A. History of Connecticut 

ing and hoarding articles of attire. A woman had an am- 
bition to have a chestful of linen. Here is an inventory of 
the possessions of a Norwich lady in 1757. There were 
gowns of brown duroy, striped stuff, plain stuff, black silk, 
crepe, calico and blue camelot; a scarlet cloak, blue cloak, 
satin flowered mantle and scarf: a camlet riding hood, 
long silk hood, velvet hood, white hood trimmed with 
lace, and nineteen caps; also sixteen handkerchiefs and 
fourteen aprons, together with fan, necklace and cloak 
clasps. In 1760, gowns began to be worn with close-fitting 
bodice, and skirt sewed on with a multiplicity of fine 
gathers; with petticoats beautifully quilted. Every lady of 
fashion wore an ornamental case suspended from the waist, 
in which were thimble, scissors, and scent-bottle. Snuff-box 
and pomander for both sexes were elegant features of the 
eighteenth century. As early as 1766, French fashions 
began to decorate the ladies and empty pocketbooks. 
Artificial flowers were much worn. The calash was a 
charming article of dress on the head of a pretty girl; one 
"looked down a green lane to see a rose blooming at the 
end." Skirts were expanded by hoops, three or four feet 
across. For great occasions, the hair was sometimes tor- 
tured for four hours, and ladies would sleep in a sitting 
posture to avoid disturbing the majestic sugar-loaf creation. 
Wigs were worn for years with long queue, or ending in a 
silk bag behind. 

Furniture was substantial; the cherry desks, high-boys, 
low-boys, chests of drawers and oaken chairs suggest a 
sterling age. There was one extravagance which the 
Puritans were slow to give up, and that was the habit of 
wearing expensive boots and shoes. Ephraim Williams 
of Wethersfield was a maker of fine boots and shoes, and his 
account-book for 1746-60 has come down to us. It gives 
prices which seem extravagant in these economical times. 
Colonel Israel Williams of Hartford paid him four pounds 
for a pair of double-channeled pumps, and for a pair of 



An Agronomical DIART, 

OR, AN 

ALMANACK 

for the Year of our Lord Christ, 

1 7 $ 3* 

Being the firO after Bissextile, or Leap 
Year : And in the Twenty-Sixth Year 
of the Reign of our molt Gracious Sove- 
reign Kino GEORGE //. 

Wherein is contained the Lunations, Eclipfcs, 
Mutual A fpecfcs of the Planet?, Sun and 
Moon'sRifiug.& Settmg,Rifing, Setting & 
Southingot the Seven Stars, Time of H igh - 
Water, Courts, Obfervable Days, Spring 
Tides, Judgment of the Weather, &c. 

Calculated for the Lat.of 41 Deg.Nortf),&the 
Meridian of New-London in Connect! cut. 



By ROGER SHERMAN. 



Time fprung fromDaiknefs,& from ancientNighf 
An.d i*o(h'<l along wHhtheflrft Beams of Light J 
n Sol't bright CVi»v h« feisM the flowing reins. 
And drove hi-s Courferst hro' the iEfhereal Plains, 
Whofe Radiant Beartis affect our feeble Eyes 
Arid fill our Mind* with Wonder and Surprise, 
And ltill his Wheels on their fyift Axles Roll 
With, eager ha fte to reach the deftin'd Goal; 
Faft »s tjie Winds their rapid Courfe they bend, 
Croud on *he Scenes to bring the fatal End. 

^N E W^L"ON"b"ON7 " 
Prinfec?\& Sold by T.G hei^ *7 53- 



Facsimile Title-page of a Roger Sherman Almanac 

The volume is in the Library of the Connecticut Historical Society 



How tHe People Lived in tKe Early Days 113 

double-channeled boots the price was fourteen pounds; an 
enormous price, but there was leather enough in a pair for 
six pairs of shoes, and those great hand-made, square-toed 
casings would last years, and perhaps become heirlooms. 

For most of the people life was simple, neighborly, and 
without parade. Quarters of beef, veal, and lamb were ex- 
changed; wages of unskilled labor in the earlier years were 
two shillings a day, and double that after the Revolution. 
There was no glass on the table to break, no tablecloth to 
wear out, no china to nick; sand was good enough for the 
parlor carpet, and fashions came to stay. No description 
of the early life of Connecticut would be complete without a 
reference to the almanac, for the Bible and almanac were 
necessary in every home. Long before the almanac became 
a composite of information on sun and moon phases, pills, 
salves, jokes, and bitters, it held the place of a small en- 
cyclopedia of knowledge concerning the heavenly bodies, 
court and freemen's meetings, interest tables, distances 
from tavern to tavern, prophecies about the weather, texts 
of sermons, household receipts, date of neighbor's birth, 
wedding, or death, when the big storm occurred, the great 
tree blew down, and the sheep went to pasture. The first 
Connecticut man to compile an almanac was John Tully 
of Saybrook Point, and his series continued from 1687, to 
1702, and at the latter date, he "dyed as he was finishing 
this Almanack." 

In 1750, Roger Sherman brought out an almanac; he 
continued the series until 1761. One gains fresh confidence 
in Sherman's uncommon common sense as he reads his 
prophecy of the weather for December 2, 1754, "Freezing 
cold weather, after which comes storm of snow, but how 
long after I don't say." 

There were then two ways of reckoning time: the his- 
torical, which began on the first of January, and the 
ecclesiastical year, which began on the twenty-fifth of 
March. In the earlier seventeenth century almanacs 



U4 A. History of Connecticut 

March appears first while January and February follow 
December. This accounts for the double dates found in 
books of that period. In 1709, Thomas Short established 
the first printing-press in Connecticut ; it was set up in New 
London, and that year an almanac by Daniel Travis ap- 
peared with the New London imprint. 

In the practice of medicine the doctors were helped out 
by the Indians, but more by the home-made remedies in 
which "roots and herbs" played a leading part. Since 
doctors charged extra fee when bleeding was resorted to, 
it is not perhaps strange that the physicians discovered fre- 
quent need of letting out blood that the disease might have 
less to feed upon. Bills were not very high, as appears from 
the bill of Dr. Caleb Bushnell of Norwich in 1723, "tords 
the cure of Christian Challenge: 

To 3 travells 7 6 

to Lusisalig Bolsum 4 o 
to 3 times bleeding 1 6" 

Fresh air was considered dangerous for the sick, especially 
night air, and cooling drinks for fevered lips nearly fatal. 
Dentistry was an undiscovered country, except as the family 
physician wrenched out a tooth by aid of an instrument of 
torture called a turn-key. 

The first artificial light used by the settlers was the pine 
torch, the idea coming from the Indians. Then came 
" candle- wood, " sections of dry pine logs, cut into lengths of 
eight inches and split thin, which were used for carrying 
about the house and to read by, although the pitchy drip- 
pings were trying. In 1696, Farmington voted that no 
inhabitant should be prohibited from felling pine trees for 
candle wood, and Higginson wrote: 

Yea, our pine trees that are the most plentiful of all wood, doth 
allow us plenty of candles which are very useful in a house; and 
they are such candles as the Indians use and no other, and they are 



How tHe People Lived in tKe E.arly Days 115 

nothing else but the wood of the pine tree cloven into little slices, 
something thin, which are so full of the moisture of turpentine 
and pitch, that they burn as clear as a torch. 

By 1660, candle-making was a common task for housewives, 
and deer and bear suet was mixed with beef tallow; wax 
also was furnished by the bees. Rushlights were used 
instead of candles, when a slight flame would do, and they 
were formed by dipping rushes in tallow. Fats, grease, and 
table refuse were combined with vegetable oils and used in 
the old Betty lamps, and for a century and a half beginning 
with 1690, the oil in common use in lamps was crude whale 
oil. 

There was plenty of hard work in the early years, and one 
only needs to think of the toil connected with making cloth 
to see that the united energies of the whole family were en- 
listed. After the men had raised and harvested the flax, 
it was no easy task to break and swingle stubborn fiber 
before the hands of the women could hatchel and card it. 
Then it was wearisome to cleanse, separate, and comb out 
the matted fleece. Children and grandparents were en- 
listed to wind the quills and turn the reels, while grown-up 
daughters and sturdy matrons accomplished their "day's 
work" at loom or spinning-wheel. At length the household 
was supplied with sheeting, blankets, towels, coverlets, 
heavy woolen cloth for winter wear, and tow-cloth, linsey- 
woolseys, and ginghams for the summer. Families were 
large, and there was much good-fellowship in the neighbor- 
hoods except when quarrels raged, and then the people were 
vigorous haters. There were many pleasures mingled with 
the anxieties and hard work; the people enjoyed going to 
church, and their nerves were so deep that they were not 
fretted by long sermons. If bad came to worse they could 
drop off to sleep, provided they evaded the watchful 
tithing-man with his long pole with a squirrel's tail at the 
end of it. Domestic and neighborly festivities, such as husk- 



Ii6 A History of Connecticut 

ings and raisings, were merry occasions, and flip increased 
the hilarity. Thanksgiving was a delightful home feast, 
and training days were bright spots in quiet lives. There 
was a kind of spice given to their humdrum existence by the 
many signs and superstitions they watched and were pos- 
sessed by. We shall notice later the witchcraft epidemic, 
but must refer here to the fear lest the moon be looked at 
over the left shoulder, and the anxiety to plant vegetables 
and butcher steer or pig in the right phases of the moon. 
Potatoes, carrots, and beets, growing under the surface, were 
planted in the "dark of the moon," and corn, peas, and beans 
in the "light of the moon." Then, too, pig or steer must be 
slain when the moon was waxing, otherwise it would "shrink 
in the pot." Brush was cut "when the moon was in the 
heart"; to see an odd number of crows was lucky; when a 
cow was lost, a stick was set on end and let fall to see in 
which direction she went; it was supposed that the place 
to dig for water could be discovered by a piece of hazel, 
which would turn toward the springs. A story went the 
rounds of a scoffer, who started to build a ship on Friday; 
named it Friday, launched it Friday, set sail on Friday and 
was never heard from again. To spill salt was sign of a 
quarrel, but if a little were thrown over the right shoulder, 
the danger was averted. There were haunted houses in 
most of the towns, and demons were supposed to inhabit 
lonely roads to terrify travelers. 

One of the most laughable events of those credulous 
years was the so-called Battle of the Frogs, which has come 
down in ballad and story from the early summer of 1758, 
when on a dark foggy night, just after midnight, shouts and 
cries were heard by the people of Windham, coming from a 
pond a mile east of the village. The whole town turned out 
and women and children tried to compete with the frogs 
in their outcries and screams, for some thought the French 
and Indians were about to make an attack, while others 
thought the noise was the trump of doom ushering in the 



How tKe People Lived in. tHe Early Days 117 

close of history. Toward daybreak, the noise died away, 
and in the morning hundreds, and some say thousands, of 
frogs were found dead in the pond. There must have been 
millions if Samuel Peters of Blue Law notoriety was accu- 
rate, for he says they "filled a road 40 rods wide and 4 
miles in length." Some have thought that an earthquake 
killed the frogs, others that they killed one another in a frog 
Gettysburg, others that they died of over-excitement, 
since it is supposed that the frog sings only when it is happy. 
A suggestion concerning one side of the life of the people 
is found in the fact that until 1700, there was a winter 
wolf hunt in Windham County; the last wolf at Woodstock 
was shot by Pembascus in 1732, and Ashford's last wolf in 
1735. Israel Putnam achieved considerable fame by his 
adventure in a wolf's den, and the story that has come down 
to us is as follows: There was near his farm a craggy, 
precipitous hill range with ragged rocks and tangled forest; 
for years the neighboring country was ravaged, and in- 
numerable sheepfolds robbed, by a wolf from that wild 
fastness ; children feared to go up among the hills for berries. 
One morning seventy sheep and goats were reported as 
killed, besides many lambs and kids wounded and torn. 
Putnam had a bloodhound of superior strength, and with 
five neighbors the resolute farmer agreed to watch until 
the wolf was killed. The final hunt was in the winter of 
1742-43, when a light snowfall enabled men and boys to 
track the wolf to his den. A day was spent in fruitless 
endeavor to persuade the beast to come out. Failing in 
that, Putnam threw off coat and waistcoat, and with a rope 
around his body, and a torch in his hand, he was lowered 
into the cave until he saw the glaring eyeballs; the second 
time he entered the cave he carried a gun and shot the wolf. 
The wildness of the life appears also from the fact that 
rattlesnakes were so numerous that for years a prize of 
fourpence a head was offered for them. The first fifteen 
days of May were set apart to hunt them in Windham 



n8 A. History of Connecticut 

County. Bounties were offered for tails of rattlesnakes in 
various towns, and in Norwich, early in the eighteenth 
century, twopence apiece was given for all rattlesnakes 
killed between the fifteenth of April and the first of May, 
and people turned out in large numbers to hunt them. In 
1 72 1, the bounty was claimed for killing one hundred and 
sixty snakes in Norwich, and in 1730, the bounty was 
increased to two shillings apiece and three hundred were 
killed in fifteen days. In 1735, twenty pounds was paid, 
with the bounty at fourpence. In 1739, the bounty 
was raised again to ten shillings, and among those who 
claimed it were the Widow Woodworth, who was paid for 
twenty-three, and the Widow Smith for nine, and in those 
years he who claimed the bounty was obliged to take 
oath that he went out for no other purpose than to de- 
stroy them. There was enough to jar the nerves of the 
timid, and there is an old Norwich tradition that an ad- 
venturous lover, going home late one night from a visit to 
his lady-love below Little Plain, was snapped at by a wolf 
and hissed at by a rattlesnake. 

There was much variety in the early life, and enough to 
foster brawn, courage, and daring. Struggles with Indians, 
wild animals, backward seasons, and reluctant soil were 
reinforced by problems of government, fears of the devil, 
wrestlings with the claims of a severe theology, church 
quarrels, and benighted superstitions. The sturdy conscious- 
ness of being engaged in doing the will of God, however 
stern the adversities, trained steady nerves, encouraged 
sound sleep, and promoted tireless thrift. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE EARLY RELIGIOUS LIFE 

TT is a short step from a study of the way the people lived 
J in the early years to a glance at their religious experi- 
ence and devotion, so vital and all-pervasive was their 
consciousness of the presence of God, and so sure their 
faith in the infinite will, which they believed to be at the 
heart of the vast system over them. In the preamble to the 
Fundamental Orders, they said that they joined in one 
commonwealth "to maintain and preserve the libertty and 
purity of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus, which we now pro- 
fess, as also the discipline of the churches, which, according 
to the truth of said Gospel is now practiced amongst us." 
Religion was to them a practical and urgent claim. Re- 
volting against the formalism and corruptions of a state 
church, whose hand had been heavy against them, they 
crossed the Atlantic with a tireless assurance that every- 
thing is controlled by God's sovereignty, and that things 
are right or wrong because God says so ; that nothing escapes 
the notice of God, whose clutch holds fast the freest choice. 
They also held strongly to the idea of human helplessness. 
No higher authority for this can be quoted than Thomas 
Hooker, who once likened a "poore sinner" to the "wheele 
of a clock that is turned aside, and by some contrary poyse 
set the wrong way," which cannot be set right except 
by "a kind of holy violence" on the part of God. He says, 
"If there were a great and old distemper in a mans stomacke, 

119 



120 A. History of Connecticut 

if a man should put a rich doublet upon him and lay him 
in a Featherbed, and use all other meanes, this would doe 
him noe good." Conversion as a violent process was the 
normal type in that strenuous age. The devil was as real 
to the settlers as the Lord, and almost as hard to down. 
" It is a tough work, a wonderfully hard matter to bee saved. 
It is not shedding a teare at a Sermon, or blubbering now 
and then in a corner, and saying over thy prayers, and 
crying God mercy for thy sins, will save thee," says 
Thomas Shepherd, Hooker's son-in-law. Willingness to be 
damned for the glory of God, which was developed more 
fully in the next century, was implied in the faith of 
the early Puritans. Minute and rigid self-inspection and 
thorough analysis of the inner life were urged and practiced. 
Merciless exposure of the naked soul was demanded that 
all danger of self-deception might be avoided; and candi- 
dates for church membership were required to run the gaunt- 
let of fifty searching questions before they could be received. 
The solemnity and strictness which gathered about the 
Sabbath, the sharp watch on church-going, and the mi- 
croscopic scrutiny of the soul by the Almighty and the 
individual, would have resulted in a piety more morbid 
than sound, more debilitating than healthful, had it not 
been for the wholesomeness and common sense of the Anglo- 
Saxon settlers and the hard work encountered. They 
believed that an Indian could not kill a settler unless God 
willed it; they also believed that God willed the settler to 
fire first if he could. 

There is a story that has floated down the years of a 
settler spending a long evening in argument with a neighbor 
over the divine decrees, and when he took his gun and 
stepped out into the darkness, he examined the priming, 
which led his friend to say, "What is the use of that? If it 
is foreordained that an Indian should kill you, you cannot 
help yourself." "True," said the other, "but if it is fore- 
ordained that I should kill an Indian, I must be ready." 



THe Early Religious Life 121 

Wielding ax and swinging scythe helped to modify extreme 
views of divine control, while diabolic spite, morbid fancies, 
and torpid liver were corrected in some degree by the healthy 
outdoor living. Despite the wise teachings of Hooker, it was 
in the year 1648, six months after the powerful preacher 
breathed his last, that a woman was hanged in Hartford for 
familiarity with the devil. Watchfulness for Satan's officious- 
ness in securing the death of a cow, a tempest, rheumatism, 
or Indian depravity helped correct excessive self-examination. 
Far more valuable was the daily reading of the Bible and 
prayer. Recoiling from the supremacy of the Church, they 
enthroned the Scriptures as the supreme authority. 

The New Haven congregation rose while the minister 
solemnly pronounced the text. The whole Bible, even the 
Solomon Love Song, carried reverent worshipers straight 
to the heavenly throne. John Pynchon, the founder of 
Springfield, wrote a book in 1650, on the Atonement, pre- 
senting a view which has since prevailed largely in New 
England, and the Massachusetts legislature ordered it 
burnt, because it was supposed to be unfair to the Bible. 
Mrs. Hutchinson with her teaching of the higher life, and the 
Quakers with their claim to the immediate guidance of the 
Holy Spirit, were dangerous, because they seemed to disturb 
the authority of the Scriptures. The saintliness of the 
early years was neither morbidly sentimental, gloomy, 
excessively mystical or hard, considering the age and the 
heredity, but religion was at the center of everything. 
Family worship was an important feature of a Puritan house- 
hold. At the beginning of every meal the blessing was 
asked, and at the close, thanks were given, every person 
standing by his chair in both instances. The day began 
and ended with Scripture and prayer, all standing during 
prayer. 

From about 1660, there appeared symptoms of a decline 
from the austerity of the first years. Hardship, severe 
toil, worry over food, wolves and Indians, poor schools, and 



122 A. History of Connecticut 

the natural reaction, which our changeful human nature 
practices, brought in what has been called The Puritan 
Decline. This is clearly indicated in a book published in 
1 70 1, A Testimony to the Order of the Gospel, in the Churches 
of New England, by John Higginson, who taught school in 
Hartford in 1638, and preached in Guilford and Salem. 
When he was eighty-five years old, he joined with William 
Hubbard, the pastor at Ipswich, in a statement which 
contains the following sentences: 

We are sensible that there is Risen and Rising among us, a 
Number who not only forsake the Right wayes of the Lord, where- 
in these holy churches have walked, but also labor to carry away 
as many others with them as they can. It is too observable, 
That the Power of Godliness, is exceedingly Decaying and Expir- 
ing in the Country. 

That this is not the gloomy brooding of a depressed old age 
appears from the fact that in sermons, legislative enact- 
ments, records of the courts and of the churches, the decline 
was generally recognized as widespread and serious. In 
1679, a "Reforming Synod" was called by the General 
Court of Massachusetts, and it pointed out a "great and 
visible decay of the power of Godliness" in the churches. 
It specified as evils of the times, neglect of divine worship, 
disregard of the church sacraments, pride, profanity, Sab- 
bath-breaking, family lawlessness and irreligion, intemper- 
ance, licentiousness, covetousness, and untruthfulness. 

In the words of Thomas Prince: "A little after 1660, 
there began to appear Decay, and this increased to 1670, 
when it grew very visible and threatening and was generally 
complained of and bewailed bitterly by the pious among 
them: and yet more to 1680, when but few of the first genera- 
tion remained." The colonists had passed into a life of 
strain; religious ties between them and the strong religious 
life of England were severed by the Restoration; they were 
no longer the vanguard of a great religious movement. 



THe Early Religious Life 123 

Their religious life ceased to interest any considerable 
section of England; left to themselves in the wilderness, 
their zeal flagged and their moral life fell away. There 
had been a falling off in the ability and scholarship of the 
pulpit and the intelligence of laymen; land-grabbing had 
crowded out self-examination in that vigorous town-planting 
period, over eighty Connecticut towns being incorporated 
between 1660, and 1735. To get more land was a fever 
which dulled the anxiety to checkmate the devil and get to 
heaven. Political worry, military activity, and heavy taxa- 
tion made the strain so stern and constant as to interrupt 
self-investigation and obscure the great White Throne. 
King Philip's war carried fire and slaughter to many towns. 
It was hard to grow in grace when the church was trans- 
formed into a fortress. Action under James II. to take 
away the charter, the trying sway of Andros, the French 
War, expedition to Albany, another to Canada, witchcraft 
craze, Queen Anne's War, controversies over colonial 
boundaries, commercial and currency problems and em- 
barrassments, smallpox and diphtheria epidemics, together 
with a thousand questions arising with the settling of new 
towns, gave the people enough to think about without 
spending too much time in morbid duels with their inner 
corruptions. 

There was also much contention in the churches, which 
went far to paralyze the religious life. Church quarrels 
were fruitful sources of migrations to form new towns ; there 
were disagreements in Wethersfield which led to the settling 
of Stamford in 1641, and Hadley in 1659. There was a 
protracted quarrel in the Hartford church from 1653, to 
1659. The union of church and state was the occasion of 
numberless difficulties, which hindered the religious life. 
The action of the Half-way Covenant, which will be de- 
scribed later, seriously blighted the spirituality of the times. 
Religious controversies, which were fought out in the legis- 
lature, the courthouse, and the town meeting, with the 



124 A. History of Connecticut 

jail standing near by as a threat, furnished poor soil for a 
vital spiritual life. The domineering spirit of the churches, 
which brooked no disagreement with their vicious con- 
ception of the nature and province of the church, helped on 
the decline. The uncharitable severity with which con- 
scientious dissent on matters of religion was treated chilled 
the tender plant of piety, and converted churches, dis- 
tinguished at the start for brotherly love, into refrigerators 
which the people must attend, or be fined. The people 
in democratic Connecticut seem to have had an average 
amount of human nature, and it was not conducive to 
piety that, despite the reaction against class distinctions 
in England and Massachusetts, they should have preserved 
and established the caste system in seating the meeting- 
house. An illustration of this is found in the fact that in 1698, 
the townsmen and Goodman Elderkin, the carpenter, were 
engaged in Norwich to arrange the pews into eight classes, 
according to their dignity, and then five of the most respected 
men were directed to seat the people with due regard to rank : 
' ' the square pue to be considered first in dignity ; the new seats 
and the fore seats in the broad ally next, and alike in dignity." 
In view of all this we do not wonder that Higginson, 
Hubbard, and others joined in the lament. The Rev. 
Samuel Mather of Windsor, writing in 1706, says in a pastoral 
letter to his people: 

It is a time of much Degeneracy ... In great measure we in this 
wilderness have lost our first love. . . . We do not walk with God 
as our Fathers did, and hence we are continually from year to 
year under his Rebukes one way or another; and yet alas, we 
turn not unto him that smites us: these considerations call for the 
utmost of our endeavors, for the reformation of what is amiss 
amongst us: and for the upholding and strengthening of what yet 
remains, and is perhaps ready to dy. 

In East Windsor, Rev. Timothy Edwards — father of the 
famous Jonathan — preached a sermon in May, 17 12, on a 



THe Early IVeligicms Life 125 

topic upon which the ministers of Farmington, Hartford, 
and Windsor united, namely: "Irreverence in the wor- 
ship of God, and profanation of his Glorious and fearful 
Name by Causeless Imprecations and Rash Swearing." 
In 1 714, Samuel Whitman of Farmington preached the 
election sermon in Hartford before the General Court. 
In it he said: 

Is not religion declining? Indeed 'tis too evident to be denied, 
that Religion is on the Wane among us, 'Tis Languishing in all 
Parts of the Land. . . . Time was when the Ordinances of God 
were highly-prized ; Our Fathers had a high Esteem of them, and 
laid great Weight on them. ... But now, the Love of many 
is grown cold. . . . We are risen up a Generation that have in a 
great Measure forgot the Errand of our Fathers. 

Similar in spirit and substance was the election sermon of 
Stephen Hosmer of East Haddam in 1720, the title of which 
was: "A People's Living in Appearance and Dying in 
Reality." In 1730, William Russell of Middletown spoke 
in the same vein. He challenged his hearers to consider the 
undoubted fact of "Vanity, Worldliness, Pride, great Un- 
thoughtfulness of God." He asks: 

And is there not abundance of Unrighteousness & Unmerciful- 
ness among us? Injustice in prices, delays and dishonesty in 
Payments, Deceit, Falseness and Unfaithfulness in Bargains, 
Contracts and Betrustments, griping Usury, Evading and 
Baffling the Laws made for the Security of men from that Op- 
pression? a multitude of Law Suits, Men ready to take one an- 
other by the Throat? 

Similar reports come from the civil rulers, the courts, 
the jail records, the church records; all bear witness to an 
unspeakable laxity of morals. The sins were those of in- 
temperance, lying, slander, and licentiousness. Of the last 
mentioned Jonathan Edwards, preaching to his well-to-do 
people in Northampton, speaks of certain customs that were 



126 .A. History of Connecticut 

common among the young people, which had been one main 
thing that had led to the growth of uncleanness in the land. 
With the increase of drunkenness, profanity, and licentious- 
ness, it is clear that a change had come since 1643, when the 
author of New England First Fruits wrote: "One may 
live there from year to year, and not see a drunkard, hear 
an oath, or see a beggar"; and Hugh Peters, in a sermon 
before Parliament, said in 1646: "I have lived seven years 
in a country where I never saw a beggar, nor heard an oath, 
or looked upon a drunkard." There was also a falling away 
from the early intensity of religious experience as appears 
in the statements made by candidates for church member- 
ship. A less strenuous type was discovered and expected. 
Formality was on the increase as appears from the fact that 
baptism was made prominent as a bond to hold people to 
the church when there was a lack of spiritual life. 

There was no falling off in the forms of religion ; tithing- 
men were busy, and constables were earning their fees, 
arresting the wayward Sabbath-breakers. The people 
in every town gathered at the meeting-house for long ser- 
mons, and, before bells were obtained, the drum called all 
who could get out of bed to the solemn meetings. The 
first was beaten at eight o'clock in the tower of the meeting- 
house and through the streets of the town. When the 
second drum beat at ten, families went forth from their 
houses and walked, children following parents to the door, 
though not allowed to sit with them; the ministers wearing 
gowns and bands, but not the surplice. There were also 
meetings during the week. In New Haven the church 
had a meeting by itself on Tuesday, and on Thursday a 
lecture open to all, though perhaps not every week. 

It may relieve this rather gloomy story to look at a picture 
of a Sunday meeting in one of the towns on the Connecticut 
in 1650. It was a small, square structure, clapboarded and 
wainscoted. The people came together to the beat of the 
drum, as it was to be seven years before a bell was to hang 



THe Early Religious Life 127 

in the belfry. See the people coming, mostly on foot, though 
some from the more distant farms on horseback, the wife 
on the pillion, behind her husband, with the youngest child 
in her arms, while the rest followed on foot, young men and 
maidens according to a law discovered by Darwin two 
centuries later. At the west end of the meeting-house was 
the lofty pulpit, in front of which was the seat where the 
two solemn-faced deacons sat. The people were seated 
with respect of age, office, and estate. The guard of eight 
men with muskets at shoulder marched in, and stacking 
their arms near by, took their seats on either side, and the 
minister walked up the aisle with stately tread. The meet- 
ing began with a prayer lasting a quarter of an hour, then a 
chapter was read and explained, a psalm announced, and 
one of the deacons rose and read : 

That man is blest that hath not blent, 

Getting as near D as he could, he launched on the ocean of 
song, and the people joined. Then the deacon read the 
second line : 

To wicked reade his eare, 

By this time, the people took hold with a will, and when the 
third line was given, a mighty shout rang through the forest : 

Nor led his life as sinners do, 

They concluded with : 

And eke the way of wicked men 
Shall quite be overthrown. 

The people sat while the minister turned the hour- 
glass and announced the text. After the sermon there was 
a prayer and a blessing, and the people went home to a cold 
dinner or to the "Sabba day house," or to a neighbor's 
to replenish foot-stoves and eat luncheon. The afternoon 



128 j\. History of Connecticut 

meeting was like that in the morning, except that after the 
concluding prayer all children of recent birth were presented 
for baptism, though zero weather froze the parson's breath. 
Then one of the deacons rose and said, "Brethren of the 
congregation, now there is time left for contributions, 
wherefore as God hath prospered so freely offer." The 
people went forward with their gifts, then all rose, and 
another psalm was lined off, and a blessing concluded the 
meeting. 

In passing now to consider the government of the 
churches, we must bear in mind that the settlers of Con- 
necticut lived in an age in which a sturdy and well-balanced 
organization was considered indispensable to the life of 
religion, especially in a new country, to which all kinds of 
people might come, and those who might infect the new 
society with dangerous views. Although the settlers had 
suffered much in England because of the union of church 
and state, it was too early for even as able and broad- 
minded men as the pioneers on the Connecticut to rise to 
the level of what is now a commonplace of civil and religious 
liberty. The emigrants to the River, and still more dis- 
tinctly the colonists on the Sound, followed the traditions 
and practices of the parish system of England, and considered 
town and church as practically one, settling the affairs of 
both at the same meeting, which was held usually in the 
meeting-house, and one meets on the records in one paragraph 
an appropriation to pay the minister, and in the next a 
reference to the appointment of pound-keeper. 

The first code, that of 1650, required that all persons 
should be taxed for both church and state, and all rates — 
for church, school, constable, and fence-viewer — were col- 
lected by law. All persons were required to attend Sunday 
worship under penalty of three shillings, and to go to church 
on days of public fasting and thanksgiving appointed by the 
governor, under penalty of five shillings for every instance 
of neglect. It was enacted* "That no persons within the 



THe Early rveligiovis Life 129 

colony, shall in any wise embody themselves into church 
estate, without consent of the General Court, and approba- 
tion of neighboring elders." The laws also ordered that no 
ministry or church service should be entertained or attended 
by the inhabitants of any plantation distinct and separate 
from that which was publicly observed by the approved 
minister of the place, under penalty of five pounds for every 
violation, and that the civil authority " haue power and liberty 
to see the peace, ordinances and rules of Christ, observed 
in every church, according to his word ; and also to deal with 
every church member in a way of civil justice, notwith- 
standing any church relation, office or interest." So long 
as the establishment lasted, down to the adoption of the 
constitution in 18 18, the connection with the civil power 
continued. If a church refused to pay its minister, the 
legislature settled the proper amount for his maintenance, 
and enforced the payment. If a church remained without 
a minister for a year, the legislature could name an amount 
for ministerial purposes, and compel the town to raise it, 
according to the time-honored view of the union of church 
and state : the state the caretaker of the church ; the church 
taking charge of public morals, and furnishing ministers to 
instruct magistrates. A man who found himself within the 
territory of a parish was not allowed to vote on purely church 
matters, unless he was a church member, but he was com- 
pelled to pay toward the support of a minister in whose call 
he had no voice, and to support a church for which perhaps 
he had no sympathy. In Connecticut, a man did not lose his 
franchise in civil affairs, though under censure of the church, 
but in New Haven, as in Massachusetts, loss of church 
membership cost a man his vote in town affairs. 

The Cambridge Platform, adopted by a council in 1648, 
governed for sixty years. The need of this was due to the 
feeling that there ought to be uniformity of religious faith 
and practice. It was seen that some provision ought to be 
made for outsiders coming into the colonies; the exacting 



130 A History of Connecticut 

oversight of the members in the local church had to give 
way to a system capable of meeting larger needs. When the 
Cambridge Synod adjourned, it was known that the churches 
of New England accepted the Westminster Confession "for 
substance thereof" in matters of faith; but in government 
there were differing views. 

The Cambridge Platform, a law to the churches in the 
sense that Kent's Commentaries are law in courts of justice, 
taught that the Congregational Church was not national, 
but a brotherhood of believers, with pastors, teachers, and 
ruling elders, who have a certain' "power of office," while 
the people who elected them had "power of privilege." 
After election, the officers governed as they saw fit. But 
in case of excommunication, the more liberal policy of 
Plymouth and Connecticut prevailed, and civil rights were 
not forfeited. Pastors and teachers were such only by 
election, and the laying on of the hands of the elders of the 
church electing them, though elders of other churches could 
lay on hands ' ' when there were no elders, and the church so 
desired." Maintenance of the churches was to be collected 
from all the citizens. Communion between the churches 
was defined to be for mutual welfare, sisterly advice, com- 
mendation of members, succor of the needy, and the propa- 
gation of Christianity. Synods or councils, consisting of 
ministerial and lay delegates, were considered "necessary 
to the well-being of the churches for the establishment of 
truth and peace." These might be called by the churches, 
but, unlike the Presbyterian synods, they were disbanded 
when their work was done; moreover they were not to 
"exercise church censure in the way of discipline nor in any 
other act of authority." Civil magistrates should not 
meddle with the work of the churches, but see that godli- 
ness was upheld, by putting down blasphemy, idolatry, and 
heresy; by punishing all profaners of the Sabbath, con- 
temners of the ministry, all disturbers of public worship, 
and to proceed against "schismatic or obstinately corrupt 



THe Early Religious Life 131 

churches." This platform, known in later years as the Book 
of Discipline of the Congregational Church, defined the 
principles of this body. In England the Independent 
churches were strictly what their name implies, but the 
Cambridge Platform tended to introduce order and unity 
in the action and influence of the churches. Cotton, 
Norton, and Hooker saw the importance of giving perma- 
nence to a system of mutual supervision. Provision was 
made for an occasional council or "Synod, " to be composed 
of ministers and laymen from the neighboring churches, 
with no power to compel any church to take any particular 
action, but only to advise and admonish. The severest 
action the Synod could take was to withdraw fellowship 
from the offending church. 

Thus the Congregational became the established form of 
church order. The members of the Cambridge Synod used 
the term in the preface to their platform. There was a 
slight leaning toward Presbyterianism in the provision 
which allowed the ordination of the officers of a church by 
officers of other churches, "in case where there were no 
elders and the church so desired." As a last resort the 
church looked to the civil power for the guarding of peace 
and purity. "If any church shall grow schismatical, 
rending itself from the communion of other churches, or 
shall walk incorrigibly or obstinately in any corrupt way of 
their own, contrary to the rule of the word, in such case the 
magistrate is to put forth his coercive power as the matter 
shall require." Such interference came into play in the 
famous Hartford quarrel, but without much success. 

A well-furnished church had a pastor and a teacher, both 
of whom preached and administered the ordinances, while 
the distinctive function of the former was to preach, and 
that of the latter was to enforce the truth and interpret 
Scripture. Each church had also one or more ruling elders, 
who shared with the pastor and teacher the task of disci- 
pline; the deacons had charge of the business affairs, and 



132 -A. History of Connecticut 

provided for the poor. The office of pastor was not long 
discriminated from that of teacher, and the practice of 
maintaining the two officers soon passed. At the time of the 
confederation of the New England colonies, there were 
nearly eighty ruling elders. The occasion of the Hartford 
quarrel, which began soon after the death of Hooker, was 
this: Goodwin, the ruling elder, wanted Michael Wiggles- 
worth as Hooker's successor, and Stone, the surviving 
minister, refused to let the proposition be put to vote. The 
Goodwin party withdrew from the church, and the Stone 
party tried to discipline the former; a council of churches 
failed to reconcile the parties; the General Court intervened, 
and the angry elements became furious. It was not until 
1659, when sixty members removed to Hadley, that peace 
was restored. In 1663, a keener struggle took place, when 
the two tactless pastors, Stone and Whiting, led the two 
wings of the church in a four years' fight over the question 
of the requirements for membership in the church. In 
May, 1669, the General Court passed a law permitting the 
formation of another church in the town. In October, 
Whiting applied for permission to form the Second Church 
of Hartford; and when it was formed, the new church 
adopted the practice of the Half-way Covenant, against 
which he and his party had been contending for years. 

What was the Half-way Covenant? The theory of the 
New England churches was that their membership should be 
restricted to those who could give proof of their conversion; 
and that only such persons and their children might rightly 
be baptized. There were some in the colony who wished to 
follow the "parish- way" of the Church of England; these 
were disposed to receive into the church all persons of good 
moral character, and baptize their children. Many of the 
children of the second generation of the settlers could not 
give a satisfactory account of their religious experience, and 
consequently their children could not be presented for 
baptism. Hence many people of exemplary lives had no 



THe Early Religious Life 133 

standing in the churches, and meager political standing. 
In February, 1657, a ministerial council was called in Boston 
to consider the question which was vexing the churches, to 
see if it might not be wise to widen the door into the church,. 
There was strong opposition to that council, especially at 
New Haven, but it met, and sustained the new view. It 
declared that baptized infants could, on arriving at years 
of discretion, "own the covenant" and become formal 
church members; that the church was bound to accept 
them (if they were not of scandalous life and understood the 
grounds of religion) , and was bound to baptize their children, 
thus continuing the chain of claims to church-membership 
to all generations. This made membership in the church 
an affair of morals and formality, and gave great offense 
at New Haven and among many of the Connecticut people, 
for it introduced a dual membership, worked against the 
old Puritan theory of a covenant church, and brought in a 
national church of mixed membership. In 1662, a Synod 
met in Boston, in which neither Connecticut nor New Haven 
was represented, which reaffirmed the crude Half-way 
Covenant. In 1664, the General Court formally adopted 
the decision of the council, and commended it to the churches 
under its jurisdiction, which then included New Haven. 
It was a political idea, and not all of the churches adopted 
it. This made the break in the Hartford church, for 
when Haynes in 1666, undertook to put the Half-way 
Covenant in practice, Whiting, the senior colleague, for- 
bade him to proceed with the service. Later, the church 
split into two churches with the Half-way Covenant running 
merrily in both. In 1668, the legislature, unable to per- 
suade Massachusetts to call a Synod, passed its first Toleration 
Act, allowing "until a better light in an orderly way doth 
appeare, " that "sundry persons of worth for prudence and 
piety amongst us . . . may haue allowance of their per- 
swasion and profession in church wayes." Yet there was 
no release from support of an unacceptable ministry or from 



134 -A. History of Connecticut 

fines for neglect of church-going. Tolerance extended only 
to differences of opinion within the fold. 

The support of religion was voluntary in Connecticut 
until 1640, and both New Haven and Connecticut adopted 
the suggestion of the Commissioners of the united colonies 
on September 5, 1644, "that each man should be required 
to set down what he would voluntarily give for the support 
of the Gospel, and that any man who refused should be 
rated according to his possessions, and was compelled to pay " 
the sum levied. We have spoken of the action of the legisla- 
ture in connection with the Hartford quarrels; it was the 
practice of the General Court from the beginning to consider 
itself the arbiter of all matters relating to the churches, 
compelling them to own its authority. As early as 1643, 
it demanded from the Wethersfield church a list of the 
grievances that disturbed it. It is not strange that people, 
brought up under the ecclesiastical system of England, 
should have taken the course they did, since it was an abid- 
ing conviction that the state ought to support one form of 
religion and only one. 

The office of ruling elder was soon given up, partly 
because of a lack of suitable men to fill the position, and 
partly because of the arrogance of domineering elders. The 
office of teacher was also abolished, and the minister held 
all the power formerly vested in pastor, teacher, and elder, 
and, retaining the veto power, sometimes became autocratic 
when he was so disposed and dared. The notion that 
ministers rode rough-shod over the minds of their people, 
holding the reins with iron hand, betrays imperfect knowl- 
edge. The people had minds of their own as well as the 
ministers, but for many years there were outlets in new 
towns for the disaffected, and occasionally a minister colon- 
ized with a part of the congregation. 

The Half-way Covenant, notwithstanding vigorous op- 
position, gradually became the general practice. It was 
not considered as exactly Congregational; the religious 



THe Early Religious Life 135 

character of Connecticut was thus officially represented in 
1676, to the Lords of Trade and Plantations: "Our people 
are some of them strict Congregational men, others more 
large Congregational men, and some moderate Presbyteri- 
ans." As time passed and the new leaven spread, strict 
Congregationalists decreased. "A church without a bishop, 
and a state without a king," was still the theory; but the 
General Court saw that something better than its meddling 
was needed to keep the churches in peace, and in 1708, it 
issued an edict to each of the forty-one churches to send 
pastor and delegate to a synod to convene at Saybrook, to 
draw up a church system for the commonwealth; sixteen 
men, twelve of them ministers, obeyed the summons. The 
Synod met in September, adopted the Savoy Confession, 
and formed the Saybrook Platform as the church system, 
commending an explicit covenant of communion between 
the churches, called Consociation — a permanent organiza- 
tion — consisting of minister and a delegate from the churches 
"planted in a convenient vicinity." It proposed that each 
church should enter into the confederation, consenting to 
certain principles and rules of intercourse ; that a church or a 
person should have the right to bring disputes before the 
consociation; that a pastor or church refusing to be bound 
by the decision of the consociation should be put out of the 
communion; and that there should be an annual meeting 
of delegates from all the consociations. The "Heads of 
Agreement" assented to by the Saybrook Synod with its 
membership of twelve ministers and four laymen was an 
English platform, and formed a compromise with the 
Presbyterian theory. The legislature at once ratified the 
Saybrook Platform, coolly affirming that it had been pre- 
sented as "unanimously agreed and consented to by the 
elders and churches, " as if the action of that little conclave 
of less than a third of the ministers and four laymen could 
be regarded as "the elders and churches." Churches 
united by this platform were "owned and acknowledged 



136 .A. History of Connecticut 

established by law." All were taxed for the support of the 
established, that is the Congregational, churches. It was a 
modified Presbyterianism, without coercive power, except 
as the provision for the ministers' support, and the with- 
drawal of it from refractory members, formed a stern 
compulsion. After a time the terms Congregational and Pres- 
byterian were interchangeable. The General Association of 
1805, affirmed that "The Saybrook Platform is the Con- 
stitution of the Presbyterian Church of Connecticut." In 
accordance with the form of government outlined in the 
platform, the churches were formed into five consociations; 
one each in New Haven, New London, and Fairfield counties, 
and two in Hartford County, and the ministers were formed 
into five associations, to provide ministerial standing and 
oversight for one another. This system was definitely 
imposed upon the churches by excluding from the benefits 
of the previous establishment every church that should 
decline conformity. All churches of the earlier, Congrega- 
tional way were disowned. 

How was the new religious constitution received ? Trum- 
bull says that it "met with a general reception, though some 
of the churches were extremely opposed to it." There were 
decided differences of opinion concerning its application. 
The local independence of the churches was sacrificed, but 
it tended to bring the churches into a closer union with one 
another, and to prepare for the perils and struggles, the 
trials and conquests that were before the people. While 
the system after a time developed into a barren and rigid 
formalism in many quarters, with evil results upon morals; 
while it exalted the eldership and pastoral power; while it 
replaced the sympathetic help and friendliness of neighbor- 
ing churches with organized associations and the authority 
of councils, it was valuable in many ways in the new towns. 
It made strenuous efforts to stay the tendency toward 
barbarism during Indian, French, and Spanish wars. It 
encouraged catechising of the children, and reformation of 



THe Early Religious Life 137 

morals. It lessened the excesses of the Great Awakening, 
and anodyned some of the bitter controversies and move- 
ments toward Deism and infidelity. There were church 
quarrels enough under the new system, some of them lasting 
for ten or fifteen years, but this "permanent establishment, " 
in which church and state were bound together more securely 
than before, in which the legislature turned over to the 
"government within a government " the whole control of the 
religious life of the colony, and endowed it with church 
courts, may have been the best possible device to tide the 
churches over trying times. 

In a day and generation when men were convinced that 
religious uniformity was necessary to civil order, it is signifi- 
cant that the General Assembly, in the act of establishing 
the Saybrook Platform, should have added a proviso — 
"that nothing herein shall be intended or construed to hinder 
or prevent any Society or Church that is or shall be allowed 
by the laws of this government, who soberly differ or dis- 
sent from the United Churches hereby established from 
exercising worship and discipline in their own way, ac- 
cording to their conscience." This liberal clause was a 
shrewd endeavor to win to the platform the minority 
who clung to the earlier faith, and it also covered dissenters, 
though no rival church was desired in Connecticut. The 
Toleration Act had largely in view also the favor of the king 
who might disturb the charter if the government here were 
unfair toward any religious sects. Four classes, Quak- 
ers, Episcopalians, Baptists and Rogerines, were much in 
evidence. The treatment of the Quakers is often spoken 
of as a brilliant example of intolerance. The colonists 
made it uncomfortable for the members of this aggressive 
sect, not by hanging, as in Massachusetts, but by branding 
whipping and fining ; and very likely they would have hanged 
them if necessary to be rid of them, for it was too early to 
understand religious freedom. Having come to establish a 
state after their own ideas, they proposed to defend it 



138 -A. History of Connecticut 

against all invaders, and the Quakers were invaders who 
came from the old world for the declared purpose of dis- 
turbance and overthrow, publishing principles aiming at 
the foundations of religion and society as the Puritans 
understood those priceless boons. The Quakers reviled 
the faith and worship which the settlers had endured all 
kinds of hardships to enjoy, outraging the religious rights 
and freedom of the people. Deborah Wilson, a Quaker 
preacher, went through the streets of Salem, undecorated 
even with fig leaves, and in similar plight women sometimes 
went into public religious assemblies, to show the nakedness 
of the people's sins. In view of the dread the sect awak- 
ened, the New England commissioners in September, 
1656, advised the colonies to take measures against the 
Quakers, and Connecticut complied, so far as to direct that 
any town that harbored them should be fined; but the 
execution of the penalties was to be left to the discretion of 
the magistrates, a discretion which seems to have been 
exercised with so much judgment that, despairing of martyr- 
dom, Quakers gave Connecticut a wide berth. New Haven 
took up the matter with more zeal, and court trials increased 
offenders, who indignantly assailed the methods and manners 
of the government on the Sound. 

It is not within the province of as sturdy human nature 
as that which settled New Haven as a theocracy to endure 
men who would abolish all distinction between clergy and 
laity; refusing to pay tithes, render military service, take 
the oath of allegiance, or yield the doctrine of the In- 
ward Light. Humphrey Norton was whipped, burned in 
the hand with the letter H for heretic, and banished, and 
others were carried back to Rhode Island. Less vehement 
was the treatment in Hartford of John Rous and John Cope- 
land, traveling preachers, who reached the city in 1658, 
and being allowed to hold a discussion in the presence of the 
governor and magistrates, they were told at the close that 
the laws of the colony forbade their remaining in it, and that 



THe Early Religious Life 139 

they would better continue their journey to Rhode Island. 
They did so, and Rous testified in behalf of Connecticut 
that "among all the colonies, found we not like moderation 
as this ; most of the magistrates being more noble than those 
of the others." In 1676, when the constables broke up a 
Friends' meeting in New London, the leader of the Quakers 
says that "the sober people were offended because of the 
attack," and on the following Sunday at Hartford, he was 
allowed to speak unhindered after the morning meeting. In 
1705, the queen was persuaded by William Penn to annul the 
Connecticut law of 1657, against "Heretics, Infidels and 
Quakers," and in 1729, influenced by the action of English 
law, the General Assembly released the Quakers from paying 
taxes to support the established churches, provided that they 
could show a certificate vouching for their support of their 
own meetings and presence there. Connecticut shared 
with Massachusetts in dislike for the Baptists, and in 1704, 
refused them permission to incorporate church estate. 
While paying secular taxes cheerfully, the Baptists endured 
flogging, fines, and imprisonment rather than pay the 
church tax. The oppressive measures against them ceased 
on the inauguration of Governor Talcott, at which time the 
Toleration Act gave them some freedom, and in 1729, the 
legislature extended to the Baptists the measure of freedom 
which had been granted to Quakers. 

The year 1702, marked the beginning of a definite move- 
ment in behalf of an American Episcopate. The prosperous 
and contented colony attracted settlers, so that the popula- 
tion trebled about every twenty years. With the new- 
comers, there appeared in the latter part of the seventeenth 
century members of the Church of England, who settled in 
Stratford and other towns near New York. To their sur- 
prise, Connecticut would not tolerate their services. Com- 
plaint was made in England in 1702; John Talbot and 
George Keith, missionary priests of the Church of England, 
reported to the Bishop of London, and lodged complaint 



14° -A History of Connecticut 

of oppression of dissenters from the Congregational Church. 
Talbot's appeal for an American Episcopate found a re- 
sponse in a strong party in the English Church, which had 
formed in 1701, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel 
in Foreign Parts, to which belonged all the English bishops. 
In 1705, fourteen clergymen from the middle colonies framed 
a petition to the English archbishop and bishops for a bishop 
in America, referring to the "inconveniences which the 
church labors under by the influence which seditious 
men's counsels have." Until 1709, there was little persecu- 
tion beyond that of the tongue. When they were not al- 
lowed to organize churches, and were forced to pay taxes 
to support Congregationalism, friends in England heard 
some emphatic protests from churchmen here. It was an 
anxious time in Connecticut, which had not forgotten 
Laud's purpose in 1638, to appoint a bishop over New 
England. 

The enemies of this commonwealth were scheming to 
consolidate the New England colonies under a royal gov- 
ernor. Bills to that end were introduced into Parliament 
in 1 701, and in 1706; in the latter year John Talbot pleaded 
in England for an American bishop, voicing the importunity 
of Connecticut Episcopalians for relief from taxation for the 
Congregational order. Frightened by the discontent, and 
the stormy looks of English friends of the rising body, the 
General Assembly in 1708, added a proviso to the Saybrook 
Platform, by which dissenters could qualify before county 
courts for organization into distinct bodies by taking oath of 
fidelity to the crown, denying transubstantiation, and by 
declaring their sober dissent from Congregationalism; 
provided that it worked no detriment to the established 
church. It would be for a man's pecuniary advantage to 
stay in the state church, otherwise he would be doubly 
taxed. At a time when money was scarce, double taxation 
was like prohibition, yet the meager Toleration Act was 
regarded as a measure of dangerous liberality. In 1709, 



THe Early Religious Life 141 

fines and imprisonments began in earnest and persecution 
continued for forty years. Episcopalians could not build, 
and they would not attend Congregational worship, and 
magistrates, refusing to recognize the services held in pri- 
vate houses, fined them for absence from public worship. 
This treatment ceased when it was learned that a report 
of the court proceedings would be sent to England. In 
1707, an Episcopal church was organized at Stratford, with 
thirty communicants; in 17 18, it had increased to one 
hundred baptized persons, thirty-six communicants, and a 
congregation of more than two hundred people, ministered 
to by traveling missionaries of the Society for the Propaga- 
tion of the Gospel, and by a missionary priest, Rev. George 
Pigott, under whom, in 1722, Timothy Cutler, the eloquent 
Rector of Yale College, and six of his associates declared 
their dissatisfaction with Congregationalism, or, as they 
called it, the Presbyterianism of the Connecticut established 
church. Cutler and three other ministers went to England 
for ordination, and fear seized the Congregationalists lest 
Episcopacy become established here as in England; hope 
cheered the churchmen in view of the "glorious revolu- 
tion." Classes in Yale from 1723, to 1733, gave many of 
their members to Episcopacy. Agitation for exemption 
from support of Congregationalism, and fines for neglecting 
its worship, continued. In 1727, the General Assembly 
passed a law ordering that in a town where there was a 
Church of England, the taxes of such as declared themselves 
as attending said church were to be paid to it. There 
was more or less of haggling and petty persecution together 
with ostracism of churchmen, and attempts to defraud 
Episcopalians of money from sale of public lands. Trying 
as were these experiences, their own writers admit that at 
that period the churchmen in Connecticut suffered less 
than in New York and the southern colonies; the effort for 
an Apostolic Episcopate did not cease until it culminated, 
in 1784, in the consecration of Samuel Seabury as bishop 



142 .A History of Connecticut 

of Connecticut. In less than twenty years from the passage 
of the Toleration Act, Baptists and Quakers had challenged 
the Establishment and obtained concessions which prepared 
for a larger liberty later on. 

The Rogerines, a species of Quakers, began to make 
trouble about 1720, near New London. They were the 
followers of John Rogers, and since their business was to 
destroy priestcraft they began by trying to break up the 
Sunday meetings. They would go in small bands to the 
churches, carrying their knitting, sewing, hatcheling, and 
joinering, and by hammering, singing, and shouting try to 
drown the voice of the speaker. Rogers beset the mild and 
gentle Dr. Lord on his way to church, and followed him, 
shouting against priestcraft, and just as the minister reached 
the porch of the meeting-house, and taking off his hat dis- 
played a white wig, Rogers exclaimed in a loud voice, 
"Benjamin! Benjamin! dost thou think that they wear 
white wigs in heaven?" Benjamin would have been just as 
saintly had he asked in reply, "John! John! dost thou think 
there will be revilers in heaven?" Some of them were 
fined for traveling on Sunday, and in July, 1726, six of 
them were arrested at Norwich for this offense, and were 
committed to prison. When taken before Justice Backus, 
they were sentenced to pay twenty shillings apiece, or to 
be whipped ten or fifteen lashes; not being able to pay 
the fine they were taken to the plain and whipped with 
privet. One of them had warm tar poured upon his head, 
and his hat put on, for refusing to remove his hat in court. 
The prosecutions and persecutions went on for a few years, 
John Rogers claiming that he was sentenced at one time 
without benefit of jury and at another that his son's cattle 
were seized to pay the father's fines. 

We have noticed that at first the support of ministers 
was by voluntary contributions, a method which worked 
well, while devotion to religion flamed. It was the custom, 
for example, in Norwich for the people to carry their pro- 



THe Early Religious Life 143 

portion of wheat, rye, peas, and Indian corn on or before 
March 20, but it became necessary even in Norwich, trained 
as it was by the reverend James Fitch, to appoint collectors, 
which was done in 1686, and monthly contributions were 
sometimes taken to make up deficiencies. We have spoken 
of the code of 1650, as requiring all persons to bear their 
share, and soon it was the custom to lay a tax of from one 
penny to threepence in the pound "for the encouragement 
of the ministry," but, in 1677, the matter was transferred 
to the town, and made a part of the town finances, and at 
that time a regular salary was proposed. There was a 
custom which tended toward the permanence of the pastor- 
ate, and that was the habit of laying a special tax when 
a minister was installed over a church; a sum equal to the 
salary of two years was paid him "for settlement," as it 
was called, and with the amount he bought land, built a 
house and barn, and thus made a home, which he was sup- 
posed to occupy until death. It was expensive to settle 
a minister, and there was more than one reason why churches 
were reluctant to change. The permanence of the pastorate, 
together with the fact that the minister was usually the best 
educated man in the community, tended to give him a 
prominent place in the life of a town. 

In this review of the religious life of the early years we 
have seen how the earlier seriousness passed into indiffer- 
ence or worse, and the heavy hand of the magistrate was 
enlisted to keep the people faithful to the churches; that 
while the Half-way Covenant was considered an adroit 
way out of a serious difficulty, it tended toward weakness: 
diminishing the conviction of need of a spiritual life ; calling 
into a quasi-membership in the churches many who made no 
pretensions to such a life — men in formal covenant with a 
church, and careful to have their children baptized, yet 
caring little for the church as an institution of religion. We 
have glanced at some of the causes of decline in the religious 
life of the people toward the close of the seventeenth century, 



144 -A. History of Connecticut 

and have seen a growth in toleration toward religious people 
of different views from the established Congregationalists — 
a progress real, though largely brought about by pressure 
from England — but it is pleasant to close the chapter with 
the note of a broader charity and a more tolerant spirit. 



CHAPTER X 
WITCHCRAFT 

IT is a melancholy passage from the religious life of the early- 
years, depressing as are some of the phases of it, to the 
delirium of witchcraft: the morbid and often cruel notions 
prevailing concerning the unseen world. Would that the 
settlers might have risen above the pitiful slough of belief 
in the possession of demons! But it was the seventeenth 
century, and the delusion, which is as old as the race, pre- 
vailed in Europe for hundreds of years, that Satan and his 
associates were exploiting the world, as the sworn enemies 
of God and the churches. The fundamental authority for 
all legislation on the subject was Exodus xxii., 18, "Thou 
shalt not suffer a witch to live," and since the Bible was 
reverenced as authoritative in every part, there was but 
one thing to do. From its earliest history, the church looked 
on witchcraft as a deadly sin, and disbelief in it as a heresy, 
and no better definition of it as a popular delusion can be 
found than the one set forth in the New England indictment, 
" Interteining familiarity with Satan, the enemy of mankind, 
and by his help doing works above the course of nature." 
Compacts with Satan were regarded as common for centuries, 
and the destruction of those who made them was regarded 
as the plainest duty. For three hundred years, the flames 
were hot and fierce in Europe, spreading slowly from the 
continent to England and Scotland. 

Coke, Bacon, Hale, and even Blackstone, were infected. 

io 145 



146 A. History of Connecticut 

It was a misdemeanor at English common law, and made a 
felony without benefit of clergy in the reign of Henry VIII. 
and of Elizabeth. In 1603, at the accession of James I., 
a new law was enacted with an exact definition, which was 
in force for a century. Its main provision was this: 

If any person or persons use, practice or exercise any invocation 
of any wicked spirit, or consult, entertain, employ or reward any 
wicked spirit for any purpose, or take up any dead man, woman 
or child out of their grave, or the skin, bone or any part of any 
dead person, to be used in any manner of witchcraft, sorcery, 
charm or enchantment, or shall use, practice or exercise any 
witchcraft, charm or sorcery, whereby any person shall be killed, 
destroyed, wasted, consumed, pined or lamed in his or her body : 
every such offender is a felon, without benefit of clergy. 

Under this law witchcraft increased, and persecutions multi- 
plied, especially under the Commonwealth, and notably 
in the eastern counties of England, — rich source of emigrants 
to America. It is estimated that more than one hundred 
thousand persons were put to death in Europe during the 
three centuries in which the delusion prevailed. Possessed 
with such notions, the General Court, in 1642, ordered that 
"If any man or woman be a witch, that is, hath, or con- 
sulted with, a familiar spirit — they shall be put to death." 
New Haven had a similar law, and persons suspected of 
witchcraft were tried, condemned, and executed, without 
any question of the justice of such proceedings. The Salem 
witchcraft raged from March to September, 1692, and 
nineteen persons were hanged, one man pressed to death 
and fifty-five suffered torture, but it was forty-five years 
before the Salem tragedy that the Land of Steady Habits 
entered the campaign against the poor, unfortunate creatures. 
The first victim was Alse Young of Windsor, who was 
hanged in Hartford, on May 26, 1647, according to the diary 
of Matthew Grant, the town clerk of Windsor. In the 
following year, Mary Johnson of Wethersfield was arrested 



WitcHcraft 147 

and a "Bill of Incitement" was framed against her of 
"familiarity with the Deuill, " and chiefly on her own con- 
fession she was found guilty and executed, and the prison- 
keeper's charges being allowed by the Court, were ordered 
paid "out of her estate." A pathetic incident attaches 
to the case, as a child "was borne in the prison to her." 
Mather says in his Magnolia, "She dyd in a frame extreamly 
to the satisfaction of them that were spectators of it." 

On February 20, 1651, an indictment was found against 
a Wethersfield carpenter named John Carrington and his 
wife for having "Interteined familiarity with Sathan, the 
Greate Enemye of God and Mankinde, " and for accomplish- 
ing works past human power. They were hanged on March 
19. 1653. 

One of the most pathetic cases was that of Goodwife 
Knap of Fairfield, a woman, who, so far as we can now 
judge, was very different from some of the others who were 
arraigned; "simple-minded," Schenck calls her in his history 
of Fairfield, but gossip and scandal got after the poor crea- 
ture and she was committed to the jail, the cold and gloomy 
prison of logs, with a single barred window and massive 
door, in charge of a harsh jailer. On the day of her condem- 
nation, a self-constituted committee of one man and four 
women visited the jail and pressed the victim to name any 
other witch in town, and after they had baited, threatened, 
and badgered her to their hearts' content, in the agony of 
her soul she cried out to her relentless persecutors, "Never, 
never poore creature was tempted as I am tempted, pray, 
pray for me." 

The cases of 1662, were the nearest approach made in 
Connecticut to the Salem cases of thirty years later. Seven 
cases were indicted, of whom two were executed, and prob- 
ably a third. This epidemic began with the eight-year- 
old girl of John Kelley, who in the spring of 1662, cried out 
in the delirium of illness against Mrs. William Ayres, who 
saw in the cry a death-warrant and fled. Soon afterward, 



148 -A History of Connecticut 

Ann Cole, a religious melancholiac, tormented with doubts 
about her religious welfare, had fits of derangement in which 
she talked for hours about a company of evil spirits taking 
counsel to ruin her. Others caught the contagion, and Ann 
and two others had attacks in church. A special day of 
prayer was held for them, on which the demonic exhibition 
was so effective that one of the company fainted at the 
sight. Ann Cole denounced Mrs. Richard Seager as a 
witch. The accused said the charge was a "hodge-podge," 
but she barely escaped with her life, being indicted three 
times. On July 16, 1665, Mrs. Seager was convicted and 
lodged in prison for a year, then removed to Rhode Island, 
that refuge of the oppressed. Later, Ann Cole recovered 
control of her nerves and also acquired a surplus, for she 
married Andrew Benton, a widower with eight children. 

An average sample of the people implicated in this 
debauch of superstition, ignorance, and disordered nerves 
was Nathanael Greensmith, who lived in Hartford, next 
to the Coles' on the first lot on the present Wethersfield 
Avenue. He was a well-to-do farmer, occasionally convicted 
of thefts, assault, and lying. His wife Rebecca was described 
by Rev. John Whiting as a "lewd, ignorant, and consider- 
ably aged woman." Rebecca Greensmith had a genius for 
confessions of everything alleged by the witch-hunters. 
She had evidently fed her degenerate mind with all sorts 
of rubbish from the witch lore, was prompt to admit 
all kinds of misdemeanors, and accused every one within 
reach, even her husband. Gossip and rumor about these 
unpopular neighbors culminated in a formal complaint, and 
December 30, 1662, at a Court held in Hartford, both the 
Greensmiths were separately indicted in the same charge, 
which ran as follows : 

Nathanael Greensmith, thou art indicted by the name of 
Nathanael Greensmith, for not having the fear of God before 
thine eyes, thou hast entertained familiarity with Satan, the 



Witchcraft 149 

grand enemy of God and mankind — and by his help has acted 
things in a preternatural way beyond human abilities in a 
natural course, for which, according to the law of God and the 
established law of this commonwealth, thou deservest to die. 

The extent to which the delusion went is suggested in the 
account given by two ministers, Haynes and Whiting, who 
interviewed Goody Greensmith while she was in prison, 
and wrote out the confession which Increase Mather re- 
garded as convictive a proof of real witchcraft as most cases 
he had known. 

"She forthwith and freely confessed those things to be 
true, that she had familiarity with the devil. The devil 
told her that at Christmas they would have a merry meeting, 
and then the covenant would be drawn up and subscribed." 
This made a decided impression on the learned Rev. Samuel 
Stone, who was in the Court, and he laid forth with weight 
and earnestness the dreadful sin Rebecca had committed, 
and solemnly took notice that the devil loved Christmas! 
She said that the devil first appeared to her in the form of a 
deer or fawn, skipping about her; some of the company 
came in one shape and some in another; one flying as a 
crow. One of the reasons why Rebecca was convinced that 
her husband had help from the devil was, as she testified 
in the court, " I have seen logs that my husband hath brought 
home in his cart that I wondered at it that he could get them 
into the cart being a man of little body, and ye logs were 
such that I thought two men such as he could not have done 
it." The Greensmiths were convicted and sentenced to 
suffer death, and in January, 1662, they were hanged 
on "Gallows Hill," on the bluff a little north of where 
Trinity College now stands ; an excellent place for the crowd 
in the meadows to the west to witness a popular form of 
entertainment. 

Two days before the last confession of Goody Green- 
smith, Mary Barnes of Farmington was indicted for witch- 



150 A History of Connecticut 

craft and found guilty by the jury. The only further note of 
her fate is a bill for "keep " in prison ; and as it was for about 
the same length of time as the Greensmiths, she was prob- 
ably executed like them. In May, 1669, occurred the most 
remarkable case in the colony, when Katheran Harrison, 
one of the richest people in Wethersfield, was indicted for 
witchcraft at the Court of Assistants in Hartford, presided 
over by Deputy Governor John Mason, and the suspected 
woman was committed to the common jail until the trial. 
On May 25, at a court presided over by Governor John 
Winthrop, Jr., with Deputy Governor William Leete, Major 
Mason, and others as assistants, the indictment was as 
follows : 

Katheran Harrison, thou standest here indicted by ye name of 
Katheran Harrison (of Wethersfield) as being guilty of witch- 
craft, for that thou not haueing the fear of God before thine eyes 
hast had familiaritie with Sathan, the grand enemie of god and 
mankind, and by his help hast acted things beyond and beside 
the ordinary course of nature, and hast thereby hurt the bodyes 
of divers of the subjects of our souraigne Lord and King, of 
which by the law of god and of this corporation thou oughtest to 
dye. 

Katheran pleaded not guilty and "refered herself to a 
tryall by the jury present." A partial trial was held in 
May, but the jury could not agree, and the court adjourned 
to October, while Mrs. Harrison went to jail. 

Here are samples of the miserable drivel to which Win- 
throp, Mason, Treat, and Leete listened. Thomas Bracy 
testified that he was at the house of Hugh Wells, over 
against the Harrison house, making a jacket and pair of 
breeches, when he fell into unaccountable blunders, and 
looking out he saw a cart loaded with hay approaching the 
Harrison barn, and on the top of the hay a "red calves 
head, the eares standing peart up," and keeping his eyes 
on the cart till it came to the barn, the calf vanished. Then 



Witchcraft 151 

he said he suspected Katheran Harrison of witchcraft, and 
once while in bed he saw Mrs. Harrison and James Wakely 
at his bedside consulting to kill him ; Wakely wanted to cut 
his throat, but Katheran wished to strangle him. Pres- 
ently Katheran seized him and pulled or pinched him so 
that it seemed as though she would pull the flesh from his 
bones, and he groaned. His father heard him and spoke, 
and he stopped groaning; then Katheran "fell again to 
afflictinge and pinching," at which repeated groans brought 
his father and mother to the bedside, and James and 
Katheran went to "the beds feete." The next day 
appeared marks of the pinching. Joane Francis said 
that four years before, on the night her child was taken 
ill, Good wife Harrison or her shape appeared, and Joane 
said, "The Lord bless me and my child, here is Goody 
Harrison." Three weeks later the child died. The widow 
of Jacob Johnson said that her husband was lying in 
bed in Windsor, when he had "a great box on the head, 
and after he came home he was ill, and Goodwife 
Harrison did help him with diet, drink and plasters," 
then she sent for Captain At wood to help, and that 
night, "to the best of my apprehension, I saw the like- 
ness of Goodwife Harrison with her face toward my 
husband, and I turned about to lock the door, and she 
vanisht away. Then my husband's nose fell a bleeding 
in an extraordinary manner, and so continued (if it were 
not meddled with) to his dying day." Mary Hale testified 
that while lying in bed she saw an ugly dog with the head of 
Katheran Harrison instead of its own, and it walked over 
her and crushed her; then came a sharp blow on the fingers. 
On another night she heard the voice of a woman who said she 
had a commission to kill her, and she knew it was the voice of 
Katheran Harrison. Elizabeth Smith gave some neighborly 
gossip, saying that Katheran was a "great or notorious liar, 
a Sabbath breaker and one that told fortunes" ; that she never 
knew any one else who could spin such yarns as she. 



15 2 -A History of Connecticut 

On such testimony as this the jury returned a verdict of 
guilty. But the magistrates doubted about receiving the 
verdict, and took counsel of the ministers, who rendered a 
cautious response to the four questions asked of them in 
a paper in the handwriting of Rev. Gershom Bulkley of 
Wethersfield, in which it was declared that the communica- 
tion of things that cannot be known by human skill or 
strength of reason, "in the way of divination seemes to us 
to argue familiarity with ye devill, in as much as such a 
person doth thereby declare his receiving the devills testi- 
mony, & yeeld up himself e as ye devills instrument to com- 
municate the same to others." 

Meanwhile Katheran was not idle. She addressed a 
petition to the court, setting forth her sufferings in person 
and estate. We are not surprised that in her sense of wrong 
she should have told Michael Griswold that he would hang 
her, though he damned a thousand souls, and as for his own 
soul it was damned long ago. For this Michael brought 
two suits for slander, and Katheran was adjudged to pay 
him twenty-five pounds and costs in one case, and fifteen 
.pounds and costs in the other. On May 20, 1670, the 
General Assembly refused to concur with the court in its 
verdict, sentencing Mrs. Harrison to death, and dismissed 
her from a year's imprisonment, on condition that she pay 
the costs of the trial, and remove from Wethersfield, "which 
is that will tend most to her own safety, and the contentment 
of the people who are her neighbors." She went to West- 
chester, N. Y., but the stories followed her, and the people 
there tried to send her back. After three years of harrying, 
an accusation before the Dutch governor failed, and she was 
released, and told she could live where she pleased. 

At the time of the Salem craze in 1692, one spot in Con- 
necticut suffered deeply; that bloodshed did not attend it 
was due to the broadening of mind which had begun to 
appear. A special court was held in Fairfield, the storm 
center, in September, 1692, including Governor Treat, 



Witchcraft 153 

Deputy Governor William Jones, and Secretary John 
Allyn — and a grand and petty jury. To prepare evidence, 
the townspeople had put two suspects to the water ordeal; 
both "swam like a cork," though the crowd tried to push one 
of them under. Four women were indicted, and two hundred 
witnesses examined. The distinguished court listened for 
days to gossipy stories about roaring calves, mired cows, 
creases in the kettle, frisky oxen, unbewitching sick children, 
optical illusions, and mesmeric influence. The jury dis- 
agreed, and the court met again on October 28, for the final 
decision. A committee of women examined the prisoners' 
bodies for witch-marks. The jury acquitted all except 
Mercy Disborough, who was convicted. The governor 
pronounced the death sentence; but a memorial for her 
pardon was drawn up, and since she was living fifteen years 
afterward, we know that the poor creature escaped the 
gallows. An indictment in 1697, closed the Connecticut 
witchcraft persecutions, when a woman and her daughter 
of twelve years were indicted for " misteriously hurting the 
Bodies and Goods" of several people. They were searched 
for witch-teats, subjected to the water ordeal, and excom- 
municated from the church ; what became of them we do not 
know, except that they fled to New York for their lives. 
The number of executions in Connecticut is believed to be 
nine and possibly eleven. Three other convictions were 
found, but the court set aside the verdicts. 

We are ashamed of this dreary story of gossipy, half 
crazy, superstitious people, and our meager consolation 
is a remark of Hutchinson, late in the eighteenth century, 
that "more have been put to death in a single county in 
England in a short space of time, than have suffered in 
all New England from the first settlement to this time." 
New Haven escaped bloodshed by having judge instead of 
jury trial, and that judge, the sensible and considerate 
Theophilus Eaton. 

In the main, the suspects were apt to be cranky and 



154 -A. History of Connecticut 

unbalanced people, whose neighbors became social police 
to rid the community of trying characters. That only ten 
lost their lives in Connecticut during this craze is a trib- 
ute to the common sense of the Connecticut lawyers 
and ministers, in an age when the people gave the devil so 
conspicuous and dignified an agency in the affairs of life 
that they were inclined to confess his presence at all times; 
and when an authority like Blackstone could write in a 
century after the witchcraft craze, "To deny the possibility, 
nay actual evidence of Witchcraft and sorcery, is at once to 
flatly contradict the revealed word of God in various pas- 
sages both of the Old and New Testaments." 



CHAPTER XI • 
SLAVERY 

ONE of the curious inconsistencies of the Puritan 
emigration is that for generations there were slaves 
in Connecticut. Abhorring as they did religious and 
political slavery, the people did not object to family slav- 
ery so long as it paid. Sagacious and heavenly-minded 
as were John Davenport and Edward Hopkins, they were 
not averse to keeping slaves, and the tradition is that 
the Rev. Ezra Stiles, later on president of Yale College, 
and a vigorous advocate of emancipation, sent a barrel 
of rum to Africa to be exchanged for a negro slave. 
The justification ran in this fashion, "It is a great privi- 
lege for the poor negroes to be taken from the ignorant 
and wicked people of Guiana and placed in a Christian 
land, where they can become good Christians and go to 
heaven when they die." The caste system was marked 
in the colony, and superiors, equals, and inferiors were 
recognized in church, prayer, and social life ; there being 
no more question about the rightfulness of keeping slaves 
than of owning cows or chickens. 

From 1639, when the records say there was a boy in 
Hartford from Dutch Guiana, slavery prevailed for two 
hundred years. The Pequot war furnished the first slaves, 
and the money paid for them helped meet the expenses of 
the war. Few individual men owned many of these humble 
workers, and the largest owner was Godfrey Malborne of 

_ i55 



156 -A. History of Connecticut 

Brooklyn, who had fifty or sixty slaves on his large estate. 
In the early part of the eighteenth century, a slave sold for 
from sixty shillings to twenty-five pounds; later, the price 
rose to one hundred pounds for choice goods. In 1756, there 
were in Connecticut three thousand six hundred and thirty- 
six slaves, one to every thirty-five of the whites. In 1 774, the 
number had doubled, giving a slave to every twenty-nine of 
the whites, while in 1800, there were four thousand three 
hundred and thirty slaves, or one in fifty-nine of the freemen. 

Reference has been made to Guiana as the source of 
slaves, and the question how they came to Connecticut is 
interesting in its bearing upon the traffic of those days, and 
the zeal of a Yankee when he could see some money alluring 
him. Soon after the settlement there sprang up a trade 
with the West Indies, and some of the vessels, after leaving 
their cargoes, went to Africa and gathered a load of negroes 
for the southern market. Of the twenty-two sea captains 
of Middletown before the Revolution, three were in the slave 
trade, Captains Walker, Gleason, and Easton. The last 
named was one of the most successful slave-dealers of his 
time; he would take droves of negroes to New Hampshire 
and Vermont, when the market was dull in Connecticut, 
and exchange them for horses. In 1804, a vessel from Hart- 
ford carried two hundred and fifty negroes to Charleston, 
S. C, and captains from New Haven and New London were 
engaged in the traffic. 

It was a family institution and the slaves seem to have 
been treated fairly well. Tapping Reeve, the head of the 
famous Litchfield Law School, says that 

the master had no control over the life of his slave. If he killed 
him he was liable to the same punishment as if he killed a free- 
man. A slave was capable of holding property in the character 
of a devisee or legatee. If a slave married a free woman with the 
consent of his master, he was emancipated ; for his master had suf- 
fered him to contract a relation inconsistent with a state of slavery. 



Slavery 157 

Owners were required to support slaves; it was voted by 
the Assembly in 1702, that if a slave gained his liberty, and 
afterwards came to want, he should be relieved at the cost 
of the person in whose service he was last retained, and by 
whom set at liberty, or at the cost of his heirs. General 
Putnam freed his body-servant Dick and bought a farm 
for his Indian servant. Deacon Gray of Windham kept 
his old negroes in a cabin, where he supplied them with food. 
It appears that the law of 1702, to insure the care of freed 
slaves, was evaded, for, in 171 1, a further act was passed, 
applying to all "negro, malatto, or Spanish Indians . . . 
servants . . . for time, " who come to want after the expira- 
tion of the term of service. The provision was that in case 
those responsible refused to care for them, the sufferers 
should be relieved by the selectmen of the towns to which 
they belonged, who might "recover of the said owners or 
masters, or their heirs, executors or administrators, all the 
charge and cost they were at for such relief, as in the case of 
other debts." In 1777, the law was modified. A man 
wishing to emancipate his slave could apply to the selectmen, 
who were required to investigate the case. If they decided 
that it was for the best interests of the slave that he should 
be liberated, and that he would probably be self-supporting, 
and that he was of "good and peaceable life and conversa- 
tion, " they were empowered to give to the master a certifi- 
cate stating their decision, and allowing him to free his slave 
without any obligation to support him. 

By an act of 1792, permission might be granted by two 
of the civil officers who were not selectmen, or by one of 
them and two selectmen, to liberate a slave who was not 
less than twenty-five or more than forty-five years old, who 
was in good health, and who, they were satisfied from per- 
sonal examination, wished his freedom. If after examina- 
tion the certificate was granted and recorded in the town 
records, together with the letter of emancipation, the mas- 
ter's responsibility ceased. A strict fugitive slave law was 



158 .A History of Connecticut 

passed in 1690, and, in 1702, it was ordered that no slave 
could travel without a pass from his master or the town 
authorities, and any one assisting a runaway was liable to 
a fine of twenty shillings. In 1774, there appeared in the 
Connecticut Gazette the following advertisement: 

Ten Dollars Reward. Run away from the subscriber in 
Canterbury, a Mulatto slave. He is a slender built fellow, has 
thick Lips, a curled mulatto Head of Hair uncut, and goes stoop- 
ing forward. He had on & carried with him when he eloped 
from his Master a half worn felt Hat, a black and white tow 
shirt, a dark brown Jacket, with slieves cuffed & Pewter Buttons 
down before, a Butter Nut colored Great Coat with Pewter 
Buttons, a Pair of striped long Trowsers, & a pair of white 
Ditto, a pair of White Tow Stockings; & a pair of single chan- 
nel Pumps. Whoever will take up said Slave and deliver him 
to the Subscriber in Canterbury shall have the above Reward, 
and all necessary Charges paid by me, Daniel Tyler, Canterbury, 
June 27, 1774. 

In the preamble of an act passed in 1708, it was stated 
that negroes and mulattoes had become numerous in parts 
of the colony and were turbulent and quarrelsome. Any 
such person as struck a white man was subject to a 
flogging of not more than thirty stripes. In 171 7, New 
London voted to oppose a negro "buying land in town or 
being an inhabitant," and instructed its representatives 
to the legislature to "take some prudent care that no person 
of color may ever have any personal or freehold estate 
within the government, " and that same year the legislature 
passed a bill prohibiting negroes "purchasing land without 
liberty from the town, and also from being in families of 
their own without such liberty." When the Revolution 
came on it was found convenient to allow negroes to become 
food for bullets, and, in 1777, an act passed providing that 
slaves of "good life and conversation," when adjudged by 
the selectmen to be suitable for the army, were to be put 



Slavery 159 

into the service, and many slaves went to war, and in 
the stress of the conflict it came to pass that "neither the 
selectmen nor the commanding officers questioned the 
color; white and black, bond and free, if able-bodied, went 
into the roll together, accepted as the representatives or substi- 
tutes of their employers." Many slaves were promised their 
freedom on condition that they would serve three years in the 
army, and many displayed superior bravery when death was 
near; a negro named Lambert at Fort Griswold in 1781, slew 
the British officer who so savagely murdered Colonel Ledyard 
and fell, "pierced by thirty- three bayonet wounds." 

We read of balls given by negroes, and they were allowed 
to elect a governor from their number, and to inaugurate 
him with ceremonies which gratified their desire for display. 
They chose a man of dignified presence, firmness, and ready 
tongue, and he settled disputes, imposed fines, punished 
gross and immoral conduct, and acted as supreme arbiter 
among his people, displaying every evidence of authority, 
even to a claim of descent from a line of African kings, 
being usually reelected until health failed. On inaugura- 
tion day the whole black population turned out in an 
"Election Parade," in which borrowed horses, saddles, and 
gay trappings made a brilliant display, and fantastic garbs, 
boisterous shouting, laughing, and singing, with fiddles, 
drums, fifes, and brass horns filled the air with a noise which 
the blacks called "martial music." 

It was amusing to see the black governor, sham dignity, after 
his election, riding through the town on one of his master's 
horses, adorned with plated gear. An aide rode on either side, 
and his majesty, puffing and swelling with pride, sat bolt upright, 
moving with a slow, measured pace, as though the universe were 
looking on. When he mounted or dismounted, an aide flew to 
his assistance, holding his bridle, putting his feet into the stirrups, 
and bowing to the ground before him. The great Mogul, in a 
triumphal procession, never assumed an air of more perfect 
self-importance than did the negro governor at such a time. 



160 .A History of Connecticut 

After the parade there was a feast, which often ended with 
a drunken riot. The ceremonies took place in Hartford, 
until 1800, when they were removed to Derby. The early 
notices sent to the blacks in different places in the common- 
wealth read "negro men"; later the reading was "negro 
gentlemen"; but the grotesque display, the ridiculous antics, 
and the brass horns figured just the same. The first record 
of a black governor is that of Governor Cuff, who resigned 
in 1766, in favor of John Anderson. 

The coarse and brutal side of this slavery is suggested 
by the following advertisement which appeared in the New 
London Gazette in October, 1766: "To be sold, a strong 
and healthy negro man, 29 years of age, and brought up in 
the country to the farming business. Also an able-body'd 
wench, 16 years old (with sucking child), can do all sorts of 
housework . . . for no other fault but her breeding. En- 
quire of printer." As the consciences of the people became 
more alert to evils in the social conditions, slavery came in 
for its share of criticism, and for many years there was an 
increasing sentiment against it, and a movement toward its 
downfall. Sermons were preached against it before the 
Revolution, and Samuel Hopkins wrote a dialogue on the 
duty of freeing slaves. Jonathan Edwards, Jr., proclaimed 
the "Injustice and Impolicy of the Slave Trade," and, 
aside from the injustice of the practice urged in pulpit and 
by pamphlets, there was another reason for its passing away ; 
it was an economic failure, and the shrewd Yankees, finding 
that it did not pay, started the entering wedge in 1774, in a 
measure against the importation of more negroes for slavery. 
In the preamble of that law, there is no claim to morality, 
justice, or humanity; the reasoning is wholly economic. It 
reads, "Whereas, the increase of slaves in this Colony is in- 
jurious to the poor, and inconvenient, " it was enacted that 
"no indian or molatto slave shall at any time hereafter be 
brought or imported into this Colony, by sea or land from 
any place whatsoever, to be disposed of left or sold within this 



Slavery 161 

Colony . ' ' The penalty was one hundred pounds . B usiness de- 
pression and scarcity of labor for many of the white people led 
to the conviction that, on the whole, slavery would better be 
given up. A more radical measure was passed in 1 784, which 
provided that no negro or mulatto child, born after March 
1, 1784, should be "held in servitude beyond the age of 
twenty-five," and in 1797 it was ordered that negro or 
mulatto children born after August 1, of that year should be 
released at the age of twenty-one. In 1788, the General 
Association of Congregational ministers declared the slave 
trade to be unjust, and that every justifiable measure 
ought to be taken to suppress it. At the next session of 
the legislature, Connecticut shippers were prohibited from 
engaging in the slave trade anywhere. In 1848, an act was 
passed to emancipate all slaves, placing upon masters or the 
towns responsibility for any in need, and there were but six 
slaves in the state at that time. 

There was little disposition to encourage the negroes who 
were coming out of slavery, and in 1831, the free negroes 
of the United States, wishing to establish a college for their 
young men, with a mechanical department, decided that 
New Haven was a good place for the school, because of the 
scholarly atmosphere and because of the opportunities 
offered in the state for mechanical training. The announce- 
ment of the plan met a storm of opposition ; the city officials 
and the voters denounced it in a public meeting, did 
their best to defeat it, and their action was fatal to it. There 
was a still more famous effort to start a school for negro 
girls in Connecticut, an enterprise which Henry Wilson 
in his Rise and Fall of the Slave Power places in the same 
class with Uncle Tom's Cabin — the endeavor of a young 
Quakeress, Prudence Crandall, to change her school of white 
pupils to one of negroes. Before taking the step, Miss Cran- 
dall consulted with leading abolitionists in Boston and New 
York, and soon announced to her pupils that they were to 
give place to "young ladies and little misses of color." A 



162 .A History of Connecticut 

committee waited upon Miss Crandall to protest; a public 
meeting was held and another protest made to the deter- 
mined teacher. Another stormy crowd gathered in the meet- 
ing-house and passed a resolution that "the locality of a said 
school for the people of color at any place within the limits 
of the town. . . meets with our unqualified disapprobation." 
Five days later, the town officers presented the resolution, and 
there were those who urged Miss Crandall to take the price 
she had given for the house, but she refused, though she 
said she was willing to move to another part of the town. 
The school opened on the first Monday in April, 1833, with 
a dozen or so of quiet little colored girls from the finest negro 
families in the northern cities, and trouble began. As there 
was no law to meet the case a committee was appointed to 
draw one and present it at the Assembly, and while waiting 
for the law boycott was tried; stones were thrown against 
the schoolhouse by day and by night. When the case came 
before the legislature, the sentiment of every town in the 
state was: "We should not want a nigger on our common." 
The statute was enacted that "no person should set 
up a school for the instruction of colored persons . . . 
without the consent of a majority of the civil authority and 
selectmen in the town, under penalty of one hundred dollars 
for the first offence, and a double for every succeeding of- 
fence." Canterbury received the news of the passage of this 
law with firing of cannon, bonfires, and ringing of bells. 
In June, Miss Crandall was summoned before the Justice 
Court, and bound over to the Superior Court. Though the 
bail was moderate, no friend appeared as her bondsman, 
and the young lady went to jail for a night, which tended 
to make her a martyr; and reports of unjust imprisonment 
had great influence in creating sentiment in her favor. 
There was much litigation, and at length the people 
became impatient, and in September, 1834, J us t a year and 
a half after the school started, late one evening some men 
gathered about the building with axes and iron bars, and on a 



Slavery 163 

signal dashed in the windows, and even Miss Crandall 
quailed before such ruffianism. The next day the pupils 
were told that the school must be given up, and the teacher 
left town. Fifty years afterward, the legislature voted her a 
pension of four hundred dollars. 

We cannot understand how these events could take 
place in the nineteenth century in civilized communities. 
We can discuss them with calmness only as we remember the 
extreme jealousy of the towns over their rights, and the 
stern way the citizens had of asserting them. The change 
of sentiment concerning slavery came slowly, but at length 
it was seen that the practice, as Roger Sherman said at the 
constitutional convention, was iniquitous, a conviction to 
which the people came after they had learned that there was 
no money in it. 



CHAPTER XII 

CONNECTICUT STRUGGLES FOR HERSELF AND 
NEIGHBORS 

IN establishing a commonwealth in a rude age, amid trying 
neighbors, when disagreeableness was not all on one side, 
when everybody wanted his rights, if not a little more, when 
boundaries north, east, and west were vague, when the terrors 
of a French and Indian war were scarcely more feared than 
British imperialism, Connecticut had a stern training. 
It was a long game, requiring shrewd calculation, quick 
thinking, sharp wits, steady nerves, strong wills, and patient 
waiting. Connecticut people could not endure interference 
of the British government, and the English kings found their 
settlers here hard to get along with. This colony thought 
Massachusetts and New York too grasping, and had it not 
been for the interference of the crown, Rhode Island would 
have been entirely swallowed up by her neighbors on north 
and west. The story may as well open with an event which 
occasioned much solicitude — the coming of the Regicides. 

The death of Cromwell and the crowning of Charles II. 
unsettled affairs in New England, and when the regicide 
judges, who had signed the death-warrant of Charles I., 
arrived in Boston in the summer of 1660, there was much 
anxiety. They were Major-General Edward Whalley, a 
cousin of Cromwell, Major-General William Goffe, and 
Colonel John Dixwell, and they were among the seven judges 
who by the "Act of Indemnity" were refused pardon. 

164 



Struggles for Self and NeigfHbors 165 

After the coronation of Charles II. , a warrant was issued for 
their arrest, and hastily escaping from Cambridge, they went 
to New Haven, where they were concealed in the house of 
John Davenport, who in a notable sermon had prepared the 
people to shelter the men. After more than a month with 
Davenport the "Colonels" went to Governor Eaton's house. 
On May 1 1 , two zealous loyalists appeared at Guilford at the 
house of Governor Leete, bearing a mandate from the king 
to arrest the men. The next day was Sunday, and, by 
one hindrance and another, the pursuers were detained till 
Monday morning, when they started for New Haven with a 
letter to the magistrate, advising him to cause a search to be 
made. Early as they started, some one else left Guilford 
before them in the night, and when the two officers of the 
king reached the city, the magistrate was not at home; but 
on the arrival of the governor two hours later with the magis- 
trate of Branford, a long consultation was held in the court- 
room. The pursuers insisted that the regicides were hid in 
some of the houses in the town and that all their information 
pointed to the houses of Davenport and Jones; and they 
demanded of the governor a warrant to search for them. 
The governor and magistrates maintained that the Colonels 
had gone toward Manhadoes, and that they did not know 
the place of their concealment. As for the warrant which 
was demanded, they had constitutional and legal scruples, 
for Governor Leete was a trained lawyer. The governor 
told the pursuers that he could not and would not make them 
magistrates of his jurisdiction, as he should do if he should 
invest them with power to enter men's houses and search for 
criminals. Besides, the king's mandate appeared to be 
addressed to the governor of Massachusetts as if he were 
governor of all New England, and to others only as subordin- 
ate to him; and the magistrates feared that, by acting under 
such a mandate, they might acknowledge a governor- 
general, and might thus betray their trust to the people. 
When the pursuers asked if they would obey the king in the 



166 A History of Connecticut 

matter, the governor replied, "We honor his Majesty, but we 
have tender consciences." The pursuers made as thorough 
a search as they dared under the circumstances, and a few- 
days later returned to Boston. Meanwhile, the hunted 
men were in various places, spending many weeks in a cave 
on West Rock, while the colony was scoured for them, and 
large rewards were offered for information concerning them. 
August 19, they obtained a lodging-place in Milford, where 
they were hid for a few years. In October, 1664, they went 
to Hadley, Massachusetts, where the minister, Rev. John 
Russell, concealed them the rest of their days. 

Connecticut was prompt to acknowledge the authority of 
Charles II., and John Winthrop, Jr. was sent to the English 
court to secure a charter ; being a man of high standing and 
eminent scholarship, he easily secured influential friends at 
the court, and it is said that he had a valuable ring which 
had been given by Charles II. to his grandfather, which he 
presented to the king. Whatever the influences, in a season 
of good feeling, on April 23, 1662, Charles II. gave a patent, 
which conferred the most ample privileges and confirmed all 
lands which had been previously given according to the 
alleged grant to the Earl of Warwick, to the freemen of the 
Connecticut colony, and such as should be admitted as free- 
men. The territory given was, 

all the Part of Our Dominions in New England in America, 
bounded on the East by Narragansett-River, commonly called 
Narragansett-Bay, where the said river falleth into the Sea; and 
on the North by the Line of the Massachusetts- Plantation ; and 
on the South by the Sea; and in Longitude as the Line of the 
Massachusetts-Colony, running from East to West, That is to 
say, From the said Narragansett-Bay on the East, to the South 
Sea on the West Part, with the Islands thereunto adjoining, 
together with all firm Lands, Soils, Grounds, Havens, Ports, 
Rivers, Waters, Fishings, Mines, Minerals, precious Stones, 
Quarries, and all and singular other Commodities, Jurisdictions, 
Royalties, Privileges, Franchises, Preheminences and Heredita- 



Struggles for Self and NeigHbors 167 

ments whatsoever within the said tract, [on condition of paying] 
to Us, Our Heirs and Successors, only the fifth part of all the Ore 
of Gold and Silver which from Time to Time, and at all Times 
hereafter shall be gotten, had or obtained, in lieu of all Services, 
Duties and Demands whatsoever. 

The form of government which was established by this 
charter was the most popular possible and continued to be 
the fundamental law of Connecticut for one hundred and 
fifty-six years. Although it was granted at a time when the 
rights of the people were slightly understood and little re- 
garded, and by a sovereign who ruled England with arbitrary 
sway, the form of government established by the charter was 
of a more popular description, and placed all power within 
the more immediate reach of the people, than the constitution 
for which it was deliberately exchanged a century and a half 
later, at a time of republican freedom. The charter granted 
that the colony under John Winthrop and his successors 
should have power through its 

Assistants and Freemen of the said Company, or such of them 
(not exceeding Two Persons from each Place, Town or City) 
to consult and advise in and about the Affairs and Business of the 
said Company . . . and Establish all manner of wholesome 
and reasonable Laws, Statutes, Ordinances and Directions and 
Instructions, not contrary to the Laws of this Realm of England. 

The joy of the colonists on the Connecticut on receiving 
this charter was unbounded, and that of the New Haven 
settlers lessened by the fact that they were cast in with the 
older colony. After the death of Charles II., James II. pro- 
ceeded to carry out the plan of uniting a number of scattered 
plantations, circled by Indians and jealous, meddlesome 
Dutch, into a strong colony under an efficient commander. 
The idea was neither unreasonable nor unphilanthropic, for 
with all his faults, James II. had a strong sentiment of English 
nationality, and the bringing of the northern provinces under 



168 .A. History of Connecticvxt 

one head he hoped might unite New England in defense 
of the frontier. The idea did not appeal to the colonies, 
and though they knew that the soil of North America had 
been regarded as belonging to the crown, like the castle at 
Windsor, they were dismayed when, in the spring of 1686, 
Sir Edmund Andros arrived in Boston, in the frigate King- 
fisher, glittering in scarlet and lace, with a guard of British 
soldiers, to become captain-general and governor-in-chief 
of New England. Moreover he was to have associated with 
him a council, whose first members were to be royal ap- 
pointees. The governor and council were to make laws 
which were to conform to those of England and to be sent 
over to receive the sanction of the king. The oath of alle- 
giance was to be required of all persons. The governor had 
authority to regulate the currency, to command the mil- 
itary and naval forces, and with the council to levy taxes 
for the support of the government. 

The way for Andros had been prepared by a quo warranto 
issued by the king in the summer of 1685, citing the governor 
and company of Connecticut to appear before the king to 
show by what right they exercised certain powers and privi- 
leges. Connecticut was charged with making laws contrary 
to those of England; imposing fines on its inhabitants; 
enforcing an oath of fidelity to itself, and not the oaths of 
supremacy and allegiance; prohibiting the worship of the 
Church of England ; refusing justice in its courts ; excluding 
men of loyalty from its government, and keeping the 
reins in the hands of the Independents. The writs were 
not served within the dates returnable, and when Randolph 
appeared in Boston in the spring of 1686, he sent a letter to 
the officials of Connecticut, and neglected to tell them that 
the writs had run out, but he did tell them that there was 
nothing left for them to do but to resign their charter at 
once humbly and obediently, since if they undertook to 
defend it at law, they would have all western Connecticut 
annexed to New York at once, besides other possible disasters. 




Edmund Andros, 1637-1714, Royal Governor of New England from 
November 1, 1687, to May 9, 1689 

From the Engraving by E. G. Williams 



Struggles for Self and Neig'Hbors 169 

He advised them to visit him at Boston, rather than have 
him go to them, "as a herald to denounce war." He said 
they need not think that they would gain any advantage ' ' by 
spinning out time by delay, " as the writs would keep as fresh 
as when landed. The shrewd Connecticut Yankees had 
lived too strenuous a life to be overwhelmed by these threats, 
and knowing about the writs, they had divided the unap- 
propriated lands among the towns to keep them from the 
king's messengers, Hartford and Windsor obtaining most of 
Litchfield County. The magistrates held a special session, 
and decided upon an address to the king, entreating him to 
suspend his proceedings against their charter; and on July 
20, Randolph appeared at Hartford and served his stern 
writs, calling John Allyn and John Talcott, keepers of the 
charter, out of bed at midnight to impress them with the 
danger of delay. Meanwhile Dudley, president of the coun- 
cil at Boston, had written a letter urging annexation to 
Massachusetts rather than to New York. It was a time of 
decided anxiety for the Connecticut leaders; the official 
heads, Treat, Allyn, Fitz John Winthrop and others, favored 
the surrender of the charter, for fear that the king might be 
provoked to make good Randolph's threat, and partition the 
colony among its neighbors ; others were determined to give 
away nothing until compelled to do so. The majority of the 
people in the colony were against the surrender, and em- 
ployed William Whiting, a London merchant, son of an old 
Hartford resident, to represent the colony, with power to 
submit to the king if compelled, but to employ counsel to 
defend the cases, and urge separate existence and not 
partition. 

A new writ was issued October 6, 1686, and forwarded by 
Sir Edmund Andros, who, two days after he landed, sent an 
express messenger to Governor Treat, empowered to receive 
the charter ; Randolph sent a letter by the same man insist- 
ing that the officials should comply without delay. The 
governor called together the General Assembly, which voted 



170 A History of Connecticut 

to leave the matter to the governor and council. It was a 
trying situation, since the king was evidently determined to 
carry out his purpose, and he was not a man to be thwarted 
by the opposition of a handful of colonists on the Connecticut. 
Fifty corporations in England had been deprived of their 
charters; the city of London had stood trial with him and 
had given up its charter; the charter of Massachusetts had 
been vacated, and Rhode Island had submitted to the king. 
The Connecticut officials were quite the match for the resolute 
Andros and Randolph ; writing a diplomatic letter, they said 
that they were satisfied to remain as they were, if the king 
were willing, but they must submit to his will, and if he chose 
to join them to the Massachusetts government as a separate 
province they would like it better than annexation to any 
other. This masterly letter, yielding much on the* face and 
nothing in law, had the effect desired, though hardly ex- 
pected, by its authors; the government accepted it as a legal 
surrender of their rights into the hands of the king, who 
dropped the proceedings in the writ, and wrote Andros to 
assume the power to which the colony had agreed. 

The Assembly met as usual in October, 1687, and the 
government continued according to charter until the last of 
the month, when Sir Edmund Andros, with his suite, and 
more than sixty regular troops reached Hartford, when the 
Assembly was sitting, demanded the charter, and declared 
the government under it dissolved. The Assembly was 
extremely reluctant to make the surrender: the tradition is 
that Governor Treat dwelt upon the expense and hardships 
of the colonists in planting and defending the country, and 
declared that it was like giving up his life to yield. The 
affair was debated and kept in suspense until evening, 
when the charter was brought in and laid upon the table 
before Sir Edmund. Suddenly the lights were extin- 
guished; the charter was passed out of the room, and Cap- 
tain Joseph Wadsworth carried it away and hid it in a large 
oak, fronting the house of Samuel Wyllys, one of the magis- 



Struggles for Self and NeigHbors 171 

trates. The people appeared orderly, the candles were 
relighted, but the patent could nowhere be found. It did 
not remain long in the oak, but was soon carried to Wads- 
worth's house and possibly to Andrew Leete's in Guilford. 
The colony was forced to submit for the time, and the next 
day, the secretary, John Allyn, wrote "Finis" on the colonial 
records, and closed the book. Sir Edmund began his 
government with flattering professions of friendliness and 
devotion to the public interests, but he soon placed vexatious 
and burdensome requirements upon the colony. Restraint 
was laid upon the liberty of the press, and Dudley was 
appointed censor; the writ of habeas corpus was suspended; 
fees of all officers were enormous: the common fee for the 
probate of a will was fifty shillings; colonial records were 
removed to Boston, requiring a long and expensive journey 
to enable one to consult them. Marriages could be per- 
formed only by magistrates. No land was to be purchased 
from the Indians except under license of the governor with a 
round fee. Sir Edmund said that Indian deeds were no 
better than the "scratch of a bear's paw." People who had 
been living for fifty years on their farms, and had gardens 
and orchards, had no clear title, except as they took out 
patents from the government of Sir Edmund, sometimes at 
an expense of fifty pounds. Writs were served against 
prominent men who would not submit to such impositions, 
and their lands were patented to others. All town meetings 
were prohibited, except one in the month of May, for the 
election of town officers. This was to prevent consultations 
for redress of grievances. It was a most rankling and 
humiliating imposition to men who had been accustomed to 
self-government, but the thorough Andros rode rough-shod 
over the people, carrying out the resolute purposes of King 
James. Randolph was not ashamed to make his boast in 
his letters, in respect to Governor Andros and his council, 
"that they were as arbitrary as the great Turk. " 

Governor Treat was a father to the people in their de- 



172 .A History of Connecticut 

spondency, and in the general depression in business and social 
life; and the joy was great when word came in April, 1689, 
that James II. had fled to France, and William and Mary 
had been enthroned. The officials brought the charter from 
its shelter, called town delegates together, and the old gov- 
ernment resumed its functions. In 1693, Fitz John Winthrop 
was sent to England to obtain a confirmation of the charter 
and was assured by the best lawyers of the crown that the 
charter was entirely valid. The basis of the opinion was 
that it had been granted under the great seal; that it had 
not been surrendered under the common seal of the colony, 
nor had any judgment of record been entered against it; 
that its operation had merely been interfered with by over- 
powering force ; that the peaceable submission to Andros was 
merely an illegal suspension of lawful authority. William 
was willing to secure the fruits of James's plan of controlling 
the colonies, as he showed by enforcing the forfeiture of the 
Massachusetts charter; but the law in the case of Connecti- 
cut was too plain, and he ratified the lawyers' opinion in 
April, 1694. 

It is not possible to imagine how the colony could have 
conducted the affair of the charter with greater wisdom. The 
passive attitude of the government had disarmed Andros so 
far as to cause legal proceedings necessary to forfeit it to 
cease, and prompt action at the right time brought it again 
into force, after the Andros sway had been endured for a 
little more than two years. Having resumed her govern- 
ment, which she had enjoyed for fifty years, a government 
prized all the more because of the exactions and requirements 
of the Andros rule, Connecticut took in hand the settlement 
of the boundaries, which was a longer and more trying experi- 
ence, for the colony was dealing with men in New York, 
Massachusetts, and Rhode Island who were as intelligent, 
aggressive, and tenacious in their insistence upon acquiring 
the last square inch of land as was Connecticut herself. 

The boundary dispute between Connecticut and New 




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Struggles for Self and Neig'Hbors 173 

York was serious and bitter. Soon after the royal charter 
was given to Connecticut, the king gave his brother James, 
Duke of York (March 12, 1664), a patent of an extensive 
tract, which included "all that island or islands commonly 
called Long Island . . . and all the land from the west 
side of the Connecticut river to the east side of Delaware 
Bay." Colonel Richard Nicolls sailed across the Atlantic 
and surprised the Dutch; New Amsterdam surrendered 
August 27, 1664, and was at once named New York. On 
October 13, Connecticut sent commissioners to New York 
to congratulate the commissioners there and establish a 
boundary. In the agreement it was declared that Long 
Island belonged to New York and 

that creek or river called Momoroneck, which is reputed to be 
about thirteen miles east of West Chester, and a line drawn from 
the east point or side where the fresh water falls into the salt at 
high water, north-west to the line of Massachusetts be the western 
bounds of the said colony of Connecticut: and all plantations 
lying westward of that creek and line so drawn to be under his 
Royal Highness' government, and all the plantations lying east- 
ward of that creek and line to be under the government of 
Connecticut. 

This was never confirmed by the crown, and New York 
refused to abide by it. The line crossed the Hudson at 
Peekskill, but it was never surveyed. In 1672, the Dutch 
recaptured the province, and when the English again took 
possession by the treaty of Westminster, a new patent was 
granted the Duke of York, June 29, 1674, like the former, 
and he seemed disposed to execute it to the letter. 

Though King Philip's war was in progress, the govern- 
ment prepared to resist, and sent troops to garrison Say- 
brook and New London. Captain Thomas Bull was in 
command at Saybrook, and June 9, 1675, he saw an armed 
fleet approaching the fort. By command of the colonial 
authorities Captain Bull told Andros that the English 



174 -A. History of Connecticut 

needed no help against Indian foes. On the morning of 
July 12, Andros asked leave to go ashore for a conference 
with the officers. This was granted and he landed with his 
suite. Bull met Andros on shore and bluntly told him that 
he was instructed to resist the invasion. Bull knew the 
charter of the Dudley government of 1664 had named the 
Connecticut River as the eastern boundary. He also knew 
Connecticut never surrendered anything unless compelled. 
Andros bade his clerk read aloud the two papers which 
gave him his authority, and Bull told the clerk to forbear. 
The latter persisted, and the captain commanded "For- 
bear!" in a tone which Andros did not choose to resist. 
Admiring the coolness of the Connecticut officer, Andros 
said, "What is your name?" "My name is Bull, sir," 
was the answer. "Bull!" replied the governor. "It is a 
pity your horns were not tipped with silver. " 

This game of bluff worked well, and matters quieted down 
for a while until the discussion of the boundary was opened 
afresh in 1682, and New York claimed twenty miles east of 
the Hudson, on the ground that the royal commissioners had 
said that the Mamaroneck River was "twenty miles every- 
where from the Hudson." If Connecticut would not allow 
this, New York threatened that she would claim all the 
territory to the Connecticut River. Commissioners of the 
two colonies met in 1683, and came to an agreement that 
the Byram River, between Rye and Greenwich, should be 
the western boundary of Connecticut ; or from Lyon's Point 
at the mouth of the Byram River up the stream to the wading 
place, thence north northwest eight English miles, thence 
east twelve miles parallel to the Sound, and thence in a line 
parallel to, and twenty miles distant from, the Hudson River. 
It was further agreed that New York should receive from 
Connecticut along the remainder of her western boundary 
as much as Connecticut took from New York at Greenwich 
and along the Sound. This deprived Connecticut of Rye— 
a loss severely felt. Connecticut has Greenwich, Stamford, 



Struggles for Self and NeigHbors 175 

Darien, New Canaan, Norwalk, and a part of Wilton to which 
New York yielded all claim. In return New York received 
a strip one and three-quarters miles and twenty rods wide 
along the west side of Connecticut, which is parallel to and 
twenty miles distant from the Hudson River. This was 
called the Oblong or Equivalent Tract, containing 61,440 
acres. In 1855, as most of the old landmarks had been 
removed or destroyed, it became necessary to establish the 
boundary lines, and there was a special reason for this in the 
fact that people along the line had evaded paying taxes to 
either state. The commissioners established the boundary 
to the last angle, but on that to the Massachusetts line 
there was a difference of opinion. New York wished to find 
the old and traditional line, and Connecticut desired to sur- 
vey a new line. A line was run, but it differed from the 
other by forty- two rods at the widest part, made a differ- 
ence of twenty-six thousand acres, and New York refused 
to yield. The matter rested until 1859, when new com- 
missioners were appointed, who made a new survey, and 
Connecticut would not yield. Then New York empowered 
her commissioners to survey and mark with monuments a 
mile apart the line as fixed by the survey of 1731, but Con- 
necticut would not agree to the line thus marked. In 1878, 
there was again a dispute and the commissioners came to a 
decision December 5, 1879, whereby the western boundary 
of Connecticut was established on the old line of 1731, and 
the twenty-six thousand acres was given up to New York. 
In exchange the southern boundary was carried into the 
Sound six hundred feet south of Byram's Point, then south- 
east three and a half miles, then northeast to a point four 
miles south of New London lighthouse, thence through 
Fisher's Island Sound, as far as said states are coterminous. 
This was ratified by the states, and Congress confirmed 
the ratification in 1880. 

It consumed more than a century and a half to settle 
the northern boundary. In 1642, Massachusetts em- 



176 A. History of Connecticut 

ployed two "mathematicians," Woodward and Saffery, 
to run the line according to the charter. These highly 
ingenious men began operations by finding a point "three 
English miles on the south part of the Charles River, or of 
any or every part thereof" from which to survey a line 
toward the Pacific ; preferring a boat trip to a tramp through 
the woods among wolves and Indians, they sailed around 
Cape Cod and up the Connecticut River to a point which 
they believed to be of the same latitude as at the starting- 
point. They erred on the safe side for their employers and 
gave Massachusetts a strip of Connecticut eight miles wide. 
There was no end of dispute over this, and in 1695, Con- 
necticut had a survey made, to the result of which Massa- 
chusetts objected, and Connecticut people continued to 
settle in Enfield and Suffield on disputed lands. Different 
sets of commissioners went over the question, and the only 
reason why there was no appeal to the crown was the heavy 
expense. There were petitions and threats, and until the 
Revolution, Connecticut continued to govern Enfield, Suffield, 
and Woodstock, while Massachusetts levied taxes without 
collecting; sending notices of fast days and elections, claim- 
ing as late as 1768, that she had not given up jurisdiction; 
warning the towns not to pay taxes to Connecticut. In 
1793, both states appointed commissioners to ascertain the 
boundaries of Southwick and west to New York, also east 
of the Connecticut River. They reported that the line 
was nearly all correct, except a tract of two and a half miles 
square at Southwick which Massachusetts thought that she 
should have to compensate for the towns she had lost. 
This was refused by Connecticut in 180 1. In 1803, Massa- 
chusetts was willing to compromise, and the following year 
it was arranged that Connecticut should keep a slice of 
Southwick, and Massachusetts hold land west of the pond 
in that town, — the same indentation into Connecticut re- 
mains to-day. 

The eastern boundary seemed for a long time hopeless. 



Struggles for Self and NeigHbors 177 

Rufus Choate said of it at one of its stages: "The com- 
missioners might as well have decided that the line between 
the states was bounded on the north by a bramble bush, on 
the south by a blue jay, on the west by a hive of bees in 
swarming time, and on the east by five hundred foxes with 
firebrands tied to their tails." Connecticut claimed all the 
Narragansett country to the Bay by the conquest of the 
Pequots ; and Massachusetts on the ground of her assistance 
to Connecticut. Both regarded Rhode Island as a nonentity. 
In 1658, the New England commissioners assigned the 
Mystic River as the boundary between Massachusetts and 
Connecticut, giving Rhode Island and the eastern part of 
Connecticut to Massachusetts. The Connecticut charter 
in 1662, carried that colony to the Bay. In 1663, Rhode 
Island secured, through its agent in London, a charter 
which assigned the Pawcatuck River from mouth to source, 
and thence due north to the Massachusetts boundary as 
its western line. Confusion followed with proclamations, 
arrests, and bitter controversies until 1703, when commis- 
sioners were again appointed, who agreed that the boundary 
should be the middle channel of the Pawcatuck River, from 
salt water to the branch called Ashaway, and thence in a 
straight line north to the Massachusetts line, through a 
point twenty miles due west of the extremity of Warwick 
Neck. Contentions followed till 1727, when the Privy Coun- 
cil recommended that the agreement of 1703, should stand; 
and except for a slight straightening in 1840, it is the bound- 
ary between the states, established after sixty-five years of 
quarreling. It was fortunate for Rhode Island to be able 
to appeal to England, and the victory was just. 

Another controversy gave the colony trouble for years, 
the case of the cession in 1639, by the Mohican Indians of 
New London County and parts of Windham and Tolland 
counties. Uncas deeded this tract, the famous Norwich 
tract, to thirty-five proprietors; it covered nine square 
miles, and in 1640, a deed was drawn between Uncas and the 



178 A. History of Connecticut 

colony. The deed is ambiguous, but it states that Uncas 
parted with his whole country, except the planting ground, 
for five yards of cloth and a few pairs of stockings. This 
was done with the consent of Major John Mason, the chief 
adviser of the Mohicans. 

Other sales and grants were made by Uncas and other 
Mohicans until, in 1680, of the eight hundred square miles, 
the extent of the original Mohican country, only a small 
portion remained in possession of the Indians. The Mason 
family acted as trustees of the Mohicans, and the case was 
in litigation for almost a century. The decision was repeat- 
edly rendered, supporting the colony in the possession of the 
lands; and appeals were repeatedly made by the Mason 
family. In 1743, commissioners from New York and New 
Jersey confirmed the original decision sustaining the conten- 
tion of Connecticut; an appeal was taken to the king's 
Privy Council, which decided in favor of the colony. The 
decision was reached January 15, 1773, when the Mason 
appeal was dismissed, and the judgment of 1743, affirmed. 

Connecticut was not only under a strain to secure her 
boundaries, she was called on to help her neighbors; and 
when, in 1669, New York was threatened by the French and 
Indians, Governor Leisler wrote to her neighbor on the east, 
asking for troops. Captain Bull led a contingent to Albany, 
another force went to New York, and later, Connecticut 
joined the rest of New England and New York in an expedi- 
tion against Canada, which proved a failure. Another call 
came for help in 1693, and Governor Treat sent a body of 
troops to the defense of Albany. It was about that time 
that the liberties enjoyed so long were threatened by the 
arrival of Colonel Benjamin Fletcher, the new governor of 
New York, who came from England with a commission to 
command the whole militia of Connecticut and the neighbor- 
ing provinces. The Assembly, September 1, 1693, voted 
that Major-General Fitz John Winthrop intercede with the 
king, and William Pitkin was sent to interview Governor 



Struggles for Self and Neighbors 179 

Fletcher; the latter made no impression on the martial 
governor. On October 26, Fletcher reached Hartford and 
demanded the surrender of the militia, and ordered that it 
be summoned under arms. The officers called the train- 
bands together. With the soldiers before the Assembly 
House, the Assembly insisted that Fletcher's demands were 
not consistent with their charter. In Fletcher's name, 
Colonel Bayard sent a letter to the Assembly setting forth 
the object of the visit: not to interfere with the rights of 
the province, but merely for the recognition of the king's 
abstract right to control the military force ; and he tendered 
to Governor Treat a commission in Fletcher's name to 
command the militia. He said also that he would issue his 
proclamation to the people, and would then be able to dis- 
tinguish the loyal from the disloyal. 

The train-bands were arranged in due order, Captain 
Wadsworth was walking up and down in front of the com- 
panies, when Fletcher approached to within hearing distance 
and ordered his commission and instructions to be read. 
The moment Bayard began to read, Captain Wadsworth 
commanded the drums to beat, drowning the voice of the 
herald. "Silence!" said Fletcher, in a tone of authority. 
When the beating subsided Bayard again began to read the 
commission. "Drum, I say, drum!" said Wadsworth, and 
again the voice was lost in the drum-beat. "Silence, 
silence!" shouted the New York governor. "Drum, drum, 
I say!" repeated Wadsworth; and then turning to Fletcher 
he said, "If I am interrupted again, I will make the sun 
shine through you in a moment!" At that point, Fletcher 
withdrew. To show her loyalty under the charter, the 
Assembly voted a tax of a penny a pound to raise soldiers, 
and fifty bushels of wheat from every county, and the 
amount was paid Fletcher for defense of Albany. Winthrop 
was sent to England to make a full statement of the situa- 
tion to the king's attorney and solicitor-general, who re- 
ported favorably concerning the action of Connecticut, and 



180 A. History of Connecticut 

the king approved. It was voted to place one hundred and 
twenty men at the disposal of the governor of New York, 
and that the remainder be under the direction of the governor 
of Connecticut. In 1703, Governor Dudley of Massachu- 
setts called for troops to aid in the war with the Indians on 
the east, and four hundred troops were raised to resist the 
Indians on the north. 

There was a long struggle to retain the powers granted by 
the charter in opposition to the Board of Trade, which for 
forty years sought to carry out the plan of a union of the 
colonies. Charges were made against Connecticut of piracy, 
contraband trade, and other crimes, and Gershom Bulkley's 
"Will and Doom" played a part in the proceedings; there 
were also complaints of the treatment of the Mohicans. 
Governor Dudley supported the movement, and was seconded 
by Governor Cornbury of New York. Connecticut was 
represented by Sir Henry Ashurst, who knowing that it was 
a struggle for cherished privileges of the colony, secured two 
of the best advocates in England, and these men argued the 
case effectively, insisting that a copy of the charges should 
be sent to the governor of Connecticut, with a request for 
answers to each allegation, and also that Dudley and Corn- 
bury be required to forward proofs in legal form. In due 
time a letter arrived from Ashurst telling the colony that 
it was the opinion of the crown that the colony should con- 
trol militia and money. This was not the last attempt to 
weaken the force of the charter, and a good deal could 
be said from the imperialist point of view, for the attempt to 
unite the colonies to the crown was not pure tyranny and 
maliciousness. From the standpoint of Connecticut the issue 
was a happy one, and though the colony entered the eight- 
eenth century burdened with debts incurred in the struggles 
for herself and her neighbors, the debts were of slight mo- 
ment in comparison with the institutions and discipline which 
sixty years of alertness, resoluteness, and poise had developed. 



CHAPTER XIII 
THE UNITED COLONIES OF NEW ENGLAND 

WHILE the colonies of New England were all animated by 
a spirit of extreme independence, which often found 
expression in jealousy verging sometimes almost on hostility, 
there was a time when it seemed wise to form a confederacy. 
The nearness and hostility of the Dutch settlements, ner- 
vousness about the action of the mother- country, and the 
fear of the Indians brought about a league of the four colo- 
nies of Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut, and 
New Haven. There was a population of twenty-three 
thousand five hundred souls, of which number Massachu- 
setts had fifteen thousand, Plymouth and Connecticut three 
thousand each, and New Haven two thousand five hundred. 
There were several reasons why it seemed best to form the 
confederation, for despite the growth, energy, and optimism 
of the settlements, their condition was precarious for years. 
The Pequots had been swept away, but the colonists were 
surrounded by undesirable neighbors: Mohawks were 
not distant, Dutch were meddlesome, and Narragansetts 
powerful. In August, 1637, during the war with the Pe- 
quots, some of the Connecticut leaders suggested to the 
authorities at Boston the expediency of a form of union, 
and the next year Massachusetts submitted a plan, but 
Connecticut objected, because it permitted a mere majority 
of the federal commissioners to decide questions. In 1639, 
Hooker and Haynes went to Boston and discussed the pro- 



182 A. History of Connecticut 

posal, but Plymouth and Massachusetts disagreed over the 
boundary line, and the needed covenant was postponed. At 
a General Court held at Boston, September 27, 1642, letters 
from Connecticut were read, "certifying us that the Indians 
all over the country had combined themselves to cut off 
all the English." Anxieties also arose from the Dutch 
at that time, hence the Connecticut proposal was favorably 
received, and was referred to a committee to consider it. 
At the next General Court at Boston, May 10, 1643, a com- 
pact of confederation, drawn up in writing, was signed by 
commissioners from Plymouth, Massachusetts, Connecticut, 
and New Haven. The settlements of Gorges and Mason 
at Piscataqua and the beginnings of Rhode Island were 
denied admission, — the former, because they "ran a different 
course from us both in their ministry and administration," 
and the latter, because they were regarded as "tumultuous" 
and "schismatic." 

It was natural that men who had so much in common, who 
had come hither with similar purposes, should wish to 
form a league for mutual helpfulness and defense, yet they 
got along better by living in different colonies, because men 
of their positive views needed considerable room. They 
thought more of one another because miles of forest separated 
them, yet they were all Englishmen of solid common sense, 
who saw that in union there is strength. It is suggestive 
of their independence of judgment, and of an event one 
hundred and thirty-five years later, that they did not ask 
permission of their home government. After a preamble 
which said "we live encompassed with people of several 
nations and strange languages," that "the savages have 
of late combined themselves against us," and that "the sad 
distractions" in England prevented advice and protection 
thence ; the paper states that the colonies wished to maintain 
"a firm and perpetual league of friendship and amity, for 
offense and defense, mutual advice and succor upon all just 
occasions, both for preserving and propagating the truth and 



THe United Colonies of New England 183 

liberties of the gospel, and for their own mutual safety and 
welfare. " 

The first two articles bound together the four colonies 
under the name of The United Colonies of New England. 
The third provided that they be self-governing. The 
fourth ordered that levies of men, money, and supplies 
for war should be assessed on the colonies, in proportion to 
the male population between sixteen and sixty. By the 
fifth, upon notice of three magistrates of an invasion, the 
rest were to send relief; Massachusetts to the number of 
one hundred men, and each of the others, forty-five, "suf- 
ficiently armed and provided, " and if more were needed the 
commissioners were to convene. By the sixth, a board of 
commissioners, consisting of two men from each colony, was 
to "determine all affairs of war or peace leagues, aids, charges, 
and numbers of men for war, division of spoils, receiving 
more confederates, and all things of like nature." The 
concurrence of six commissioners should be conclusive; 
failing in this, the matter was to be referred to the legisla- 
ture of each colony, and the concurrence of the four was 
to bind. The commissioners met once a year, and as much 
oftener as necessary. The six other articles ordered that 
the president should have "no power or respect" except "to 
take care and direct"; that action should be taken to pro- 
mote peace and justice between the colonies and toward the 
Indians, and the extradition of runaway slaves and fugitives 
from justice ; that whenever any colony violated the alliance, 
the others should determine the offense and remedy. 
> The two defects in the constitution were that the federal 
government had no authority to act on individuals, and thus 
no power to coerce ; and the equal number of votes allowed 
the colonies was plainly unjust, since the population of 
Massachusetts was greater than that of the other three 
colonies combined. The commission, with such men as 
Haynes, Hopkins, Mason, Winthrop, Eaton, and Ludlow on 
the board, increased the military force of the colonies, and 



184 -A. History of Connecticut 

helped to solve puzzling questions about boundaries, pay of 
soldiers, tax on corn and beaver, and union of Connecticut 
and New Haven. 

The last annual meeting of the confederation was held 
in Hartford in 1664. The conditions leading to the forming 
of the commission had to a large degree passed away; the 
surrender of New Amsterdam to the Duke of York had re- 
lieved the colony of her Dutch neighbors; Indians within 
the colonies were friendly, and for six years the meetings 
ceased, but in 1670, a convention was held in Boston, and 
new articles of confederation adopted. Power for offensive 
war was given to the several legislatures, and a fiery debate 
was had over the apportionment of military forces and 
supplies. In the days of its prosperity, the confederation 
was of some use in concentrating and combining the military 
strength of the colonies ; and in time of trouble, it sometimes 
brought relief and satisfaction to people tempted to be dis- 
couraged. To say that it helped much to prepare for the 
union of a century later suggests more exercise of imagination 
than use of facts. 



CHAPTER XIV 
EARLY MANUFACTURERS AND COMMERCE 

IT is impossible to think of the ancestors of the Connecticut 
as we know it as other than interested in manufacturing 
and trade. As we have seen, one of the inducements the 
Indians urged, when they invited the settlers to come hither, 
was the opportunity for trade. Since there were no roads 
in the beginning, and Sound and rivers offered many con- 
venient outlets for. their products, ships and shipbuilding 
began to interest the people at an early date. The larger 
vessels had three masts, whose principal sails were extended 
by yards slung to the middle, and often to other vessels 
which would not now deserve the term. The Mayflower, 
a large vessel for its day, registered only one hundred and 
twenty tons. There was a two-masted vessel called the 
"ketch," square-rigged like the vessels just described, and 
also having a fore-and-aft mainsail. There were also 
schooners with two topsails, and there were full-rigged brigs. 
The smaller vessels were generally sloop-rigged, with one 
stout and not very high mast, a very large topsail and 
mainsail. The vessels were well-built and strong, and slow 
sailers, with low decks, high waist, and less sharpness in the 
bow than now, but they were good sea boats, and varied 
from fifty to two hundred tons. They made two, and some- 
times three, voyages a year to the West Indies. They often 
stayed long in a port to pick up a cargo, sending boats far 
along the coast or inland to gather sugar, molasses, and rum 

185 



1 86 A. History of Connecticut 

from the large estates, and on these excursions sailors some- 
times contracted fevers. Shipbuilding was a laborious 
trade, as there were no appliances for bending timbers by- 
steam; and logs were converted into planks by having one 
man beneath in a pit, the other above; bolts, spikes, and 
nails were shaped by the blacksmith; pins with a broad- 
axe. The first man in Wethersfield to build a ship was 
Samuel Smith, in the year 1649, and for many years 
sloops, schooners, and brigs were built there, on both sides 
of the river. The launching was a popular event, at which 
there was a liberal supply of Santa Cruz rum, and balls were 
often held in the evening. A diary of a Glastonbury man of 
October 30, 1794, says: "Went to launching of a ship of 
five hundred tons ; not less than three thousand persons were 
present." When vessels sailed, it was the custom to have 
prayers offered in the churches for their safe return ; and on 
their coming to port, thanks were given for their safety. 

Owing to lack of knowledge of the coast and dangers from 
freebooters, especially in times of war, it was regarded a 
risky thing to go from New Haven to Boston; Nicholas 
Augur, one of the earliest physicians of New Haven, and 
interested also in commercial ventures, being about to sail 
for Boston, made his will. A few years later, when returning 
home, he was wrecked on an island off Cape Sable, and died 
there. The first mention of commerce between New Haven 
and Barbadoes was in 1647, when salted beef was exchanged 
for sugar. Salted fish was early an article of export — the 
famous alewives or alewhorps, whose many bones became 
tender by the time they reached the West Indies. In 1680, 
there were but twenty-six vessels in the colony — four ships, 
three pinks, two barks, six ketches, and eleven sloops. 
Hartford had a sloop of ninety tons, which traded with 
England; Middletown a ship of seventy tons; New Lon- 
don the brigantine Dolphin of eighty tons. These were 
engaged in European and West India trade. The ton- 
nage tax was fifteen shillings, paid annually as a town tax. 




01 



w 



Early Manufacturers and Commerce 187 

The slender commerce was carried on mostly from New 
London, whence all vessels had to clear, and where a naval 
officer was stationed. Goods could be imported only from 
the town of Berwick on the Tweed and the West Indies. 
In 1702, the number of lawful ports in the colony was in- 
creased to include Saybrook, Guilford, New Haven, Milford, 
Stratford, Fairfield, and Stamford. Commerce was handi- 
capped by scanty sawmills and shipyards, ignorance of 
channels and inlets, danger from pirates, and during wars, 
by French and Spanish privateers. The English Acts of 
Trade, dating from 1660, applied to the colonies, and there 
were restrictive laws passed by the several colonies against 
one another. A law was passed by the legislature in 1694, 
which required vessels to pay "powder money" at every 
fort, within whose range they came, at risk of cannonade. 
In 1659, nine men were appointed by the General Court, one 
for every port, to enter and record such goods as were sub- 
ject to custom. An excise of a shilling apiece was laid on 
beaver skins as early as 1638, and in 1659, a duty of twenty- 
five shillings was laid on every butt of wine, and a tax on 
liquor or rum, except that from Barbadoes, commonly called 
Kill Devil, which was not allowed to land. In 1662, an act 
was passed prohibiting the carrying of corn or other pro- 
visions out of the river, and in the same year, the General 
Court passed a vote to require the customs-masters to col- 
lect an import duty of twopence per pound on tobacco, 
"according to the law of England." 

In 1702, Saybrook became a port of entry for the river, 
and was allowed a naval officer, but he was not recognized 
by the crown, and vessels clearing from that town were 
liable to seizure in England, when they could not produce 
clearance papers signed by the collector of the crown at 
New London, the only port established by British authority. 
In 1 714, an export duty of twenty shillings per thousand was 
levied on barrel staves, and thirty shillings on pipe staves 
shipped from the colony, in which Wethersfield had the 



188 .A. History of Connecticut 

largest business. "Pipe staves, clapboards, and tar" appear 
to have been the earliest articles of export, and these were 
carried off in such quantities that a fear arose that there 
might be a total destruction of timber, and as early as 1641, 
a law provided for the dimensions of pipe staves, and for 
an inspector in every town. The staves were shipped in 
bundles to the West Indies; many returning in the shape 
of pipes or hogsheads, filled with molasses, sugar, or rum; 
while many were made into casks in the colony, and filled 
with salt beef, pork, fish, and kiln-dried corn meal for the 
West Indies, whence also salt was brought in large quantities. 
In 1 715, a duty was imposed on ship timber sent to other 
provinces, and a duty of twelve shillings and sixpence was laid 
on every hundred pounds of goods imported here by non- 
inhabitants. In 1747, a five per cent, ad valorem duty was 
placed on goods imported from other colonies, if the importer 
resided in the colony; if he lived outside, the duty was half 
as much more. Exceptions to this law were iron, nails, 
steel, salt, beaver, leather, deerskins, fish, train oil, whalebone, 
rice, tar, turpentine, window-glass, and lumber. From the 
report made to the Privy Council by Governor Leete in 
1680, it appears that horses, rye, wheat, barley, peas, wool, 
hemp, flax, cider, tar, and pitch were shipped to Barbados, 
Jamaica, Fayal, and Madeira, but much was taken to Boston 
and "bartered for clothing." Afterward, beaver, deer- 
skins, brick, salted beef, pork, and fish, flaxseed, and onions 
were added to the exports, and "European goods," with 
salt, rum, molasses, and sugar from the West Indies, formed 
the chief imports. 

There was another line of business carried on by the sea 
captains of which we have no definite records, a clandestine 
business, but one that had money in it, in which some of the 
vessels from Connecticut ports may have engaged — that of 
slavers. Vessels left New England for the Canary Islands 
"and a market," and the market was the west coast of 
Africa, and the return cargo was a load of blacks for the 



Early Manufacturers and Commerce 189 

West India ports or the southern cities of America. We 
wish it were not morally certain that some Connecticut 
captains engaged in this traffic; but the chances are that 
the attractions of making money in this way would 
appeal as strongly to an occasional Connecticut man as to 
a captain from Newport, and Narragansett Bay was the 
home of many vessels engaged in transporting blacks from 
Africa. If a vessel out of the Connecticut river, or New Lon- 
don harbor was gone six or nine months on a trading voyage* 
the wise ones looked as though they could a tale unfold. 
There was an effort in 1665, to make New London the 
center of trade in the colony; a letter was written by the 
colonial government to the commissioners appointed by 
Charles II., complaining of the low ebb in traffic, and asking 
for free trade for seven, ten, or twelve years. Again in 1680, 
there was a request for free ports for twenty, fifteen, or ten 
years. In describing the harbor the letter says: "A ship 
of five hundred tunns may go up to the Town, and come so 
near shoar that they may toss a biskitt on shoar. " No 
royal privileges were granted, nor were they necessary, for 
the energy and enterprise of the people were sufficient. The 
first shipbuilder of importance at New London, the best 
port of the colony, was John Coit, who built barks of from 
twelve to twenty tons for from fifty to eighty-two pounds. In 
1 66 1, the first merchant vessel built in the place was launched 
with the name of New London Tryall, and the cost of it 
was two hundred pounds. There was soon a coast trade 
with New York, and in 1662, trade sprang up with Virginia 
in dry hides and buckskins. The captains were usually 
part owners, and vessels, carrying two men and a boy, went 
along the shore, stopping here and there to trade and dicker. 
New London soon became famous for its coasters and 
skippers, and men from other seaside places were engaged in 
the business. It was a notable event for the commerce of 
Connecticut when in October, 1707, John Shackmaple was 
appointed by the home government collector, surveyor, 



190 -A. History of Connecticut 

and searcher for the colony. Commerce increased, and 
horses were sent in large numbers to the West Indies. On 
June 26, 1724, six vessels went together, loaded with horses. 
The vessels were called "horse- jockeys" and forty or fifty 
horses were sometimes carried on one vessel. In 1720, 
Captain John Jeffrey came from Portsmouth, England, and 
settled at Groton Bank. Five years later, he built for 
Captain Sterling the largest vessel yet constructed on this 
side of the Atlantic, a vessel of seven hundred tons, and soon 
New London had a reputation for large ships. 

In 1730, the "New England Society of Trade and 
Commerce" was formed with eighteen members scattered 
over the colony, but misfortune attended it from the start: 
a whaler which it sent out came to grief; other vessels were 
lost, and it tried to redeem its fortunes by emitting paper, 
but to no good purpose, and the governor and council were 
forced to dissolve it in 1735. In 1760, the first lighthouse 
on the coast was erected at the entrance to New London 
harbor from the proceeds of a lottery. 

A famous enterprise of Connecticut Yankees started 
in 1740, when William and Edward Paterson came from 
County Tyrone, Ireland, skilled in the art of shaping tinned 
sheet iron into small ware. Settling in Berlin, they began 
work. Their goods were eagerly bought as luxuries, and in 
the dearth of roads and wagons they carried their products 
around in handcarts, and in large baskets swung from the 
backs of horses. Many shops were soon in full blast until the 
war interrupted the work. The minds of the people almost 
from the first turned to inventions and manufactures, and 
within a few years there were developed trades, engaging the 
skill of sawyers, carpenters, ship-carpenters, thatchers, chim- 
ney-sweepers, brickmakers, bricklayers, plasterers, tanners, 
shoemakers, saddlers, weavers, tailors, hatters, blacksmiths, 
gunsmiths, cutlers, nailers, millers, bakers, coopers, and 
potters. Often the same man practiced several trades. 
Little could be done without iron and copper and in 1651, 



Early Manufacturers and Commerce 191 

John Winthrop, Jr., petitioned the legislature for "incourage- 
ment to make search and trial for metals in this country." 
There was a cordial response, and in 1665, iron works were 
projected; Winthrop and Stephen Goodyear uniting in 
setting up a mill for rolling balls of iron, and a forge at the 
outlet of Lake Saltonstall, near New Haven, and the works 
were in operation there for several years. In 1661 , Winthrop 
prospected in the vicinity of Middletown, and a lead mine, 
which had traces of silver, was worked there by skilled miners. 
Early in the eighteenth century, interest in mining awoke 
afresh when copper was found in Wallingford and Simsbury, 
and in 1709, the General Assembly granted the first charter 
in America to a mining company; this organization was 
formed to work the mine at Simsbury, now Granby. The 
first record of copper at Granby was in 1705, when a com- 
mittee from the town reported that there was a "mine of 
silver or copper in the town. " Two years later a company 
was formed, and a contract made to dig for ore. The ore 
was shipped to England, and when assayed it was found to 
contain from fifteen to twenty per cent, of copper, with 
sprinklings of gold and silver; but the quartz mixed with it 
was refractory, and since England would not then allow 
smelters to be set up here, the cost of transportation being 
so heavy, with carting and loss of a vessel, which sank in the 
British Channel, and another captured by the French, the 
company bankrupted, and the buildings at the mines and 
the mine were attached in 1725. Work was carried on at 
intervals for seventy years, sometimes by slave labor some- 
times by free; now by private parties, then by chartered 
companies. In 1728, Joseph Higley took out a patent for a 
process of making steel — the first in America, and was given 
the monopoly for ten years, and in 1750, there was a steel 
furnace at Killingworth. The most important iron mines 
in Connecticut are those in Salisbury, where ore was first 
discovered about 1732, at Ore Hill, about a mile from the 
New York line — a deposit of brown hematite, and it was 



192 i\ History of Connecticut 

first forged at Lime Rock, five miles distant, in 1734. About 
1748, a forge was erected at Lakeville, and in 1762, the first 
blast furnace in the state was built, about two miles from the 
mine. After the Revolution opened, the government took 
possession and put it into full operation with sixty workmen, 
to furnish supplies for the army. Cannon up to thirty-two- 
pounders, with shot and shell, were cast there. The guns 
were tested under the eyes of such leaders as Jay, Morris, 
Hamilton, and Trumbull. The guns of the battery at New 
York, of the Constellation, Constitution, and many other 
battle-ships of the old navy, were made of the Salisbury 
iron, and probably at Lakeville. 

Other furnaces were established in that region, and at 
one time Litchfield County contained as many as fifty forges. 
The Salisbury mines furnish iron of decided value for cannon, 
gun-barrels, and chains, because of its toughness. For years 
the government arsenal at Springfield received from Salis- 
bury iron for guns. It is now used for car wheels, being 
mixed with other iron, thereby nearly doubling the life of a 
wheel. There are references in the records to iron works in 
Lyme in 1 741, in Derby in 1760; and the largest copper mine 
in Connecticut was opened in Bristol late in the eighteenth 
century. In 1766, Abel Buell of Killingworth made the 
first lapidary machine in this country. About 1769, there 
appeared the first series of historical prints — views of the 
battles of Lexington and Concord, also maps for Morse's 
geography. 

Tobacco followed commerce from Virginia to Connecticut, 
and was first grown in the latter state in 1640; an old record 
says, "most people plant most so much tobacco as they 
spend." In 1641, the following law was passed: "It is 
ordered that what person or persons within this jurisdiction 
shall after September, 1641, drinke any other tobacco, but 
such as shalbe planted within their libertye, shall forfeit 
for every pound so spent, five shillings, except they have 
license from this Coute. " In 1646, the law was repealed; 



Early Manufacturers and Commerce 193 

and evidently the use rapidly increased, for in 1647, a law 
was passed to lessen the abuses arising from the new drug. 
It was provided that "no one under twenty years nor any 
other that hath not allreaddy accustomed himself to the Use 
thereof should take any Tobacco until he had a Certificat 
from some one approved in Physicke that it is usefull for 
him." A "Lycence" from the Court was also required. 
Even then, no one was to take it " Publicquely, " or in 
"fyelds or woods, unless they be on their travill or joyney at 
least ten myles. " The penalty for every violation was six- 
pence. A man might smoke at the "ordinary tyme of 
repast comonly called dynner, " but not take any "Tobacco 
in any howse in the same towne where he liveth with any one 
in company, if there be any more than one who Useth or 
drinketh the same weed with him at the same tyme." For 
fifty years the main question concerning the use of tobacco 
was from the standpoint of idleness and drinking. In 1662, 
a bill was passed in favor of high protection, putting on a 
tariff of twenty-five shillings per hogshead; after 1700, 
tobacco was one of the exports. 

In 1732, began the effort to raise silkworms. One of 
the earliest planters of mulberry trees was Gov. Jonathan 
Law, who introduced the raising of silkworms on his farm 
in Cheshire, and in 1747, appeared in public in the first coat 
and stockings made of Connecticut silk; Dr. Aspinwall of 
Mansfield doing much to promote the interest. The 
records of the General Assembly contain suggestive refer- 
ences to favors granted to promote infant industries; in 
1708, the exclusive right was given to John Elliot to man- 
ufacture pitch; potash received a favor in 1743, salt in 1746, 
in Branford and Lyme; tar and turpentine were subjects of 
law from 1720, bayberry tallow in 1724; in 1732, linseed oil; 
bells in 1736, and glass making in 1747, when Thomas 
Darling of New Haven was granted exclusive right to make 
window glass for twenty years, provided he made five hun- 
dred feet in four years. 



194 -A- History of Connecticut 

In 1769, Abel Buell of Killingworth established the first 
type foundry in America, and in the collection of petitions 
in the State Library is his appeal, printed with his type, ask- 
ing for a lottery or cash to enable him to manufacture type. 
The manufacture of paper began in Norwich in 1768; the 
colony giving to Christopher Lefhngwell a bounty of two- 
pence a quire for writing paper, and one penny a quire for 
printing paper. In 1776, a paper-mill in East Hartford 
supplied the press at Hartford, which issued about eight 
thousand copies a week; and manufactured also writing 
paper used in the colony, together with much of that used by 
the Continental Congress. A bill to regulate the sale of 
onions dates from 1 772 ; also a bill concerning the manufac- 
ture of ploughs in 1 77 1. In 1776, a man asked of the legisla- 
ture a loan of one hundred pounds to build a stocking factory. 
Inventive minds were seeking to solve the problem of per- 
petual motion, and asking the General Assembly for aid in 
achieving that brilliant exploit. It was a period of energy, 
enterprise, and venture — a vigorous preparation for the mar- 
vellous developments of the next century. 



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CHAPTER XV 
EXPANSION 

THE century following the grant of the charter was a 
season of quiet growth, during which Connecticut went 
steadily forward, building the institutions of a free common- 
wealth with judgment and energy. The charter was liberal 
and strong; the people thrifty, industrious, and energetic; 
occasions for commerce favorable; much of the soil good, 
and the climate stimulating. In 1680, the colonial govern- 
ment of Connecticut, in answer to a request of the English 
board of trade, sent a statement of the condition of the 
colony, which suggests the weakness of the colony and the 
sturdy hearts of the colonists. John Allyn wrote the draft 
of the letter, and he estimated the fighting men in train bands 
of the colony at two thousand five hundred and seven, 
which would imply a population of ten thousand, or 
five persons to the square mile. The people had "little 
traffique abroad," except "sending what provisions we rays 
to Boston, where we buy goods with it, to cloath vs." He 
described the country as mountainous, rocky, and swampy ; 
most that was fit had been taken up: "what remaynes must 
be subdued, and gained out of the fire, as it were, by hard 
blowes and for small recompence." The principal towns 
were Hartford, New Haven, New London, and Fairfield, 
with twenty-six smaller towns. The buildings were of 
wood, stone, and brick, many of them "forty foot long and 
twenty broad, and some larger." The exports were farm 

195 



196 A History of Connecticut 

products, boards, staves, and horses, mainly sent to Boston, 
but some to the West Indies to barter "for sugar, cotton 
and rumme and some money." There were but twenty 
merchants in the colony, few servants, and about thirty 
slaves. Labor was scarce and dear ; wages were two shillings 
and two and sixpence a day ; provisions were cheap ; beggars 
and tramps "were not suffered," and when found they were 
bound out to service. Taxable property was estimated at 
one hundred and ten thousand pounds; two-fifths of it 
being of the nature of a poll tax, and this tax was assessed 
according to an arbitrary schedule of wealth or position, so 
that it took the nature of an income tax. 

In the development of new towns, one of two methods 
was followed: A speculator or company might buy lands 
from the Indians, with the approval of the General Assembly, 
and as soon as the rates became sufficiently large to need the 
extension of the Assembly's taxing power over the little 
community, a committee was appointed by that body to 
bound out the town ; it was then in order to choose constables, 
and send delegates to the Assembly. The other process 
tended to become the only one, and it was as follows: the 
original towns were usually extensive — six to ten miles square 
as Wethersfield embraced Glastonbury, Rocky Hill, Newing- 
ton and a part of Berlin; and persons living in remote 
parts finding it difficult to attend the central church, 
especially in winter, would ask for "winter-privileges" for 
a time and would have a preacher for themselves during the 
snowy months. When enough people could be found in a 
certain section to support a minister of their own, they 
applied to the General Assembly for permission to form a 
church. This usually met strong opposition from the old 
church, but at length the come-outers had their way; form- 
ing a church, which became a germ of a new town. A good 
example is Plainfield, which was settled as the Quinndbaug 
Plantation, and in 1700, becoming a town it was incorporated 
under the name of Plainfield, which gave as a brand for the 



Expansion 197 

horses turned loose to pasture, a triangle. We are not to think 
that changes came in the towns, and separations of neigh- 
borhoods into new towns as gently and quietly as spring 
passes into summer. Such resolute men as settled Connecti- 
cut seldom neglected an occasion for debate and even con- 
troversy, when they imagined their rights threatened, or 
thought they could advance their interests. There was a 
border warfare between Plainfield and Canterbury, attended 
by pulling down fences and carrying off hay and grain. There 
were innumerable lawsuits, and nearly all the principal 
men of Canterbury were indicted for "stealing bales of 
hay," and fined ten shillings. In 1703, the General As- 
sembly ordered a division of the territory, and in 1714, the 
same body ordered the following of the line established at 
the earlier date, thus increasing the confusion, and fanning 
the flames of border-ruffianism; and finally, in 1721, the 
limits of the contending towns were established. 

From 1700, until 1745, thirty new towns were incorpo- 
rated, and the growth in population was steady. In 1755, 
the board of trade estimated it at one hundred thousand. 
In 1762, all the soil of the colony had been allotted to town- 
ships, and new towns formed after that year were carved 
out of those already in existence. Even in the dark days 
of the Revolution, the energetic people continued to pop- 
ulate the vacant places. In 1779-80, five towns were laid 
out; from 1784, to 1787, twenty-one, — twelve of them 
in 1786. Tolland County was divided off in 1786, as Wind- 
ham had been in 1726, Litchfield in 1751, and Middlesex in 
1765. These, with the four original counties of Fairfield, 
New Haven, Hartford, and New London, made the present 
eight counties. 

The settlement of Windham County may illustrate the 
way the later counties came into being. Windham County 
is the northwest section of the state, about eighty miles 
from Boston, and across it travelers toiled without halting 
for over half a century, regarding its broken, rock-strewn 



198 -A. History of Connecticut 

surface, its lakes and rivers, its wild, craggy forests, miry 
swamps, and sandy barrens as a part of a "hideous and 
trackless wilderness." Large parts of it had been kept 
burned over by the Indians for pasturage for deer. In 1664, 
settlers came from Roxbury to the Nipmuck region, travel- 
ing over the Old Connecticut Path to form a town in what 
is now Woodstock, and on March 5, 1690, the Assembly 
voted to call it Woodstock, and in the following May, the 
first town meeting was held in the town. Two years later, 
a similar meeting was held in Windham, and Pomfret held 
a meeting before 1700; Plainfield, one in 1700; Canterbury, 
one in 1703, and Killingley in 1708. In Ashford, that wild, 
forest region, remote from civilization, yet on the Old 
Connecticut Path, which ran across what is now its common, 
the first town meeting was held in 1715. It came to pass 
that, during the forty years following the first settlement of 
that region, eight towns were formed in Windham County, 
and every one of them had settled "a learned and orthodox 
minister," and had grist mills, tanneries, the beginnings of 
roads, besides taverns. Money was scarce, food scanty, 
hard work plentiful, a conspicuous arena for the Great Awak- 
ening so soon to come, and a rich field for the builders 
of summer homes in recent years. 

Litchfield County, so famous for its glorious scenery, 
learned jurists, and powerful preachers, was organized in 
1751, having eleven towns, Canaan, Cornwall, Salisbury, 
Kent, Sharon, Torrington, Harwinton, Woodbury, New 
Hartford, Goshen and New Milford. This is the largest 
county in the state, with a gravely loam, interspersed with 
fertile lands, and watered by the Naugatuck, Housatonic, 
and Farmington rivers. 

Before all the soil of the colony had been taken by settlers 
there was a disposition to swarm. The first effort was due 
to the boundary settlement of 17 13-14 between Connecticut 
and Massachusetts. Because of concessions made by 
Connecticut, Massachusetts gave the sister colony sixty 



Expansion 199 

thousand acres of her western lands. Some of these were 
in Vermont, though believed to be in Massachusetts. Pri- 
vate parties bought them, and the erection of Fort Dummer 
in 1729, gave some promise of protection. New York 
claimed the whole territory under the grant to the Duke 
of York, but the Connecticut colonists carried with them 
the system of town government with which they were 
familiar, and asserted their "independence and unbridled 
democracy." When the territory became a state in 1 777, it 
took the title of New Connecticut, the name Vermont being 
substituted during the year — a triumph for the Connecticut 
town system. The way Vermont was settled is also sug- 
gested by names of towns found in that state, such as Hart- 
ford, Wethersfield, and Windsor. Vermont may be thought 
of as a child of Litchfield County. Ethan Allen was born at 
Litchfield in 1739; when thirty years old he moved to what 
was then known as New Hampshire Grants, but is now Ver- 
mont, and became a vigorous opponent of the encroachments 
of New York. Seth Warner, born in Roxbury, Connecticut, 
in 1743, settled at Bennington, and with Allen became one 
of the active Green Mountain Boys, resisting New York 
encroachments and valiant in the Revolution. The first 
governor of Vermont was from Litchfield County, and in 
later times three other governors, three United States 
senators, and one chief justice. Forty-five of her governors 
have been natives of Connecticut; twenty-one of her Su- 
preme Court judges, and eleven of her United States 
senators. ^^ 

The expansion of the colony westward was encouraged 
by the fact that the charter bounds extended to the Pacific 
Ocean. When the Plymouth council gave up its charter 
in 1635, it notified the king that the grant was "through all 
the mainland, from sea to sea, being near about three thou- 
sand miles in length." The geographers in England knew 
also that the Connecticut grant was three thousand miles 
long, though no one dreamed then of pressing the claim be- 



200 A. History of Connecticut 

yond the Mississippi River to lands owned by the Spanish, 
but Connecticut did think that she owned the northern 
two-fifths of Pennsylvania. Soon after the charter was 
granted, Charles gave his brother James the Dutch colony 
of New Netherland, thus interfering with the contin- 
uity of Connecticut. In 1681, Charles gave William Penn 
a grant of Pennsylvania, which took from the Connecticut 
strip the northern coal, iron, and oil fields. In 1753, a move- 
ment was made to colonize the Wyoming Country as the 
Pennsylvania section was called: it started in Windham 
County. In 1754, the Susquehanna Company was formed 
with nearly seven hundred members, of whom six hundred 
and thirty-eight were of Connecticut. Their agents made a 
treaty with the Five Nations, July II, 1754, by which they 
secured for two thousand pounds a tract of land, beginning 
at the forty-first degree of latitude, the southern boundary 
of Connecticut; thence running north, following the line 
of the Susquehanna to the present northern boundary of 
Pennsylvania; thence one hundred and twenty miles west; 
thence south to the forty-first degree, and back to the point 
of beginning. The General Assembly of Connecticut 
acquiesced, provided that the king approved. Pennsylvania 
objected, but the company sent out surveyors and plotted 
the tract. Settlement began on the Delaware River in 
1757, and in the Susquehanna purchase in 1762. There 
were conflicts between the settlers and the Pennsylvania 
men; the number of Connecticut men increased to some 
three thousand. The Connecticut Assembly passed a resolu- 
tion in 1 77 1, maintaining the claim of its colony to its charter 
limits west of the Delaware. In 1774, it raised the Susque- 
hanna district into a town, under the name of Westmoreland, 
making it a part of Litchfield County, and its deputies took 
their places in the Connecticut legislature. In 1776, 
Westmoreland was made a distinct county. Connecticut 
laws and taxes were enforced regularly; Connecticut courts 
alone were in session there; the levies from the district 



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Ticket of a Lottery to Build the Bulfinch State-House. The Original is Owned by 

George S. Goddard 

At the May session, 1793. the General Assembly granted a lottery to raise £5000 lawful money 
for erecting and completing the State House at Hartford, and appointed Messrs. John 
Chester, Xoadiah Hooker, John Caldwell, John Morgan, John Trumbull, or any two of them , 
managers. Owing to circumstances the lottery was not productive 



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From The Connecticut Land Core Company, by Albert C. Bates 



Expansion 201 

formed the twenty-fourth Connecticut regiment in the 
Continental armies. In July, 1778, after the Continental 
Congress had refused to allow the men from Westmoreland 
in the army to return home, a band of tories and Indians 
under John Butler and Joseph Brandt, fell upon the defense- 
less settlement. The old men and boys mustered, and fought 
until half their number was cut down. The women and chil- 
dren were spared for the greater horrors of the overland retreat 
to Connecticut, and the new county disappeared. Detached 
parties returning from time to time, gathered slight crops, 
under danger from the Indians, but Westmoreland County 
was no more. When the articles of confederation went 
into force, a court was appointed to settle the Susque- 
hanna or Wyoming dispute. Connecticut asked for time to 
get papers from England, but was overruled by Congress, 
which ordered the court to meet at Trenton. The unani- 
mous decision was that Wyoming belonged to Pennsylvania. 
The Wyoming settlers had a hard time for years, being 
deserted by their own state, and left to the mercy of rival 
claimants. The old Susquehanna Company reorganized in 
1785-86, but there were dissensions between the first settlers 
and the newcomers, and in 1799, Pennsylvania passed an 
act to allow actual settlers to retain their lands, thus there 
came to be a large infusion of Connecticut blood in Pennsyl- 
vania. Had it not been for the Revolution, Connecticut 
might have retained the Wyoming country; as it was, the 
dreams of Westmoreland faded, and the state is restricted 
to the present territory. 

This seems to be the place to speak of the Connecticut 
Gore Land Company. In May, 1792, five citizens of Hart- 
ford were appointed to build "a large and convenient State 
House," and owing to a scarcity of money, the Assembly 
in May, 1793, voted that the committee be allowed to hold 
the Hartford State House Lottery. Tickets to the number 
of twenty-six thousand six hundred and sixty-seven were 
issued at five dollars a ticket. Twelve and a half per 



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Meanwhile the statehousc had been finished ; :>)iarr:r> in the 

Gon r ompany dropped to nothing; in / 80 5 08, Connecticut 
paid it forty thousand dollars and the Oore bccann B dim 
tradition! 

In return foi it;; surrender of its < laims on w< stern lands, 
ijj< l,'iiii< '1 M;,i.' -. ( iov< rnment ; r f;iin« ti< ul 

about the size of Wyoming in the nreiterrl part of Ohio, 
which became known as the Western v< <• .< of 0/nn< 
cut, and it contained about three million three hundred 
thousand acre*, the lettlementoJ which wat not atteti 
until aftei th< p.-. ■■:.;;« of '!.< ' .''/iiir//' it Ordinance of 1787, 
which was the hc^innin^; of government tuul ■•■ al 

•.•/•Km. 'i Ik- authorship of that Ordinance hai ueually 
been attributed to Nathan I Jane of Massachusetts, but 

Manas:* Ii Cutlci of K illinj'.l' ./, minist' r , do'toi, s' icntist, 
and diplomat, had '!< ( ided influ< n< < in r >>n#r< ss a:; he talked 
of the interest:; of Ohio with brilliant persuasiveness, in- 
lifting that ilavery ihould tx excluded, and provition made 

foi B LUliveriity, [ndian hoHtilities delayed the settlement 
of the Reserve, but aftei Anthony Wayne's campaign in 
1794, toilers on tin rocky farmsol Connecticut lighed for the 
mellow '.oil oi Ohio, and in 1795, the General As:>embly 
passed .'hi ordinance, approving the sale of the land, and 

entruiting it to eight men, one from every county. The 
lection wai divided into twelve hundred thousand iharef, 
and Olivei Phelpi, a native of Windsor, led the entei 
prise, opening an office in Canandaigua the firet in the 

country foi sale of forest lands to settler:;. Moses ( 'leave 

land of Canterbury, magnetic, able, decifive, and patriotic, 

was selected as aj'/tnt of the company, Clcaveland, whose 
name will always b< ted with the city of that name, 

after :,crvic< in th< Revolution, and taking fall degree from 

Vale, opened a law office in Canterbury and won a high place 

amonj! the able lawyers of Windham County. The winter 
of 1795 <)(> was on< of active preparation for the migration. 

Augustus Porter, a surveyor, a native oi Connecticut, after 



204 -A. History of Connecticut 

seven seasons of laying out lands in western New York, 
was well fitted to conduct the expedition. Six weeks carried 
the party to Lake Ontario, and the portage around Niagara 
Falls was wearisome. On the site of Buffalo, a conference 
was held with Red Jacket of the Six Nations, the stalwart 
form, martial air, together with the curt but courteous ad- 
dress of General Cleaveland won the admiration and con- 
fidence of the Indians. The payment of twelve hundred 
and fifty dollars in goods secured from the chiefs a formal 
relinquishment of their claim to land in the Western Re- 
serve, and the expedition embarked on Lake Erie. On July 
4, the twentieth anniversary of American Independence, 
they landed at a place they christened Fort Independence, 
and celebrated, by salutes for New Connecticut. Toasts 
were given and the day "closed with three cheers. Drank 
several pails of grog, supped, and retired in remarkable good 
order." A few more days of coasting brought the party 
to Cuyahoga River, where a landing was effected. After 
climbing to a broad plateau, and gazing upon the blue 
waters of the lake and the wide plain, General Cleaveland 
said : ' ' This shall be the site of our city. Here we will lay 
the foundation of the metropolis of our Reserve." It was 
a sun-burned, travel-stained company of men that stood 
there that July day, a fitting beginning for the city of 
Cleaveland, and the development of great business and 
educational interests of the Western Reserve. The cen- 
sus of 1850 shows that twenty-three thousand of the 
Ohio people were from Connecticut, and nineteen thousand 
from Massachusetts. 

Few other men in American history have accomplished 
results of greater importance than Moses Austin and his 
son Steven, in planning and carrying into execution the 
making of Anglo-American Texas. It was a venturesome 
family. Elijah served in the Revolution, and was the first 
to fit out a ship for China. Moses, brother of Elijah, was born 
in Durham, in 1764; he established at St. Genevieve, Mis- 



Expansion 205 

souri, the first mines west of the Mississippi ; he planted an 
Anglo-American colony in the rich wastes of Texas. Steven 
Austin, the son, took up the work; both father and son 
builded better than they knew, and are highly honored as 
noble founders of the Lone Star State. 

In 1666, Philip Carteret, the new governor of East 
Jersey, arrived, and he sent agents at once to New England, 
to publish the terms offered to settlers, and invite them to 
his lands. The offer was liberal, and, in the following year, a 
committee from Guilford, Milford, and Branford was sent 
ahead to look over the country, to learn more exactly of the 
offer, and discover how friendly were the Indians. The reply 
was favorable, and the word passed to buy a township, 
select a site and arrange for settlement. Soon thirty fam- 
ilies were on the way by boat from New Haven to Newark. 
On reaching the spot selected, delegates were appointed 
to form a government, and true to the principles of the 
New Haven colony, no one was allowed to vote or hold 
office, unless he was a member of a Congregational church. 
A typical pioneer was James Kilburn of Granby, who in 

1802, formed a company with seven associates to move to 
the Northwest Territory ; Kilburn going ahead to explore. In 

1803, a schoolhouse, log church, blacksmith shop, and twelve 
cabins were built in Worthington, Ohio, and a hundred per- 
sons had arrived. The first Episcopal church in the state was 
formed there, and in 18 17, Worthington College, of which 
James Kilburn became president. He also went to the legis- 
lature and to Congress, and he formed an early abolition 
society. Many of the first settlers in Ohio showed their 
origin, naming their towns Kent, Ashland, and Lebanon. 

Of eighteen early governors of Wisconsin, four were born 
in Connecticut, whose pioneers were not apt to stop in 
Indiana, for the southern element was strong there, and the 
Virginian and Kentuckian were in danger of confusing the 
unscrupulous Yankee peddler with the substantial Yankee 
farmer, treating both alike. 



206 .A History of Connecticut 

Connecticut people usually knew exactly whither they 
were going, and they moved in large numbers to Long Is- 
land, New Jersey, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, 
Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan. The school system of 
Michigan was carried bodily to Wisconsin. They were 
great movers, and at Collinsville, Illinois, opposite St. Louis, 
the three Collins brothers from Litchfield established a 
town in 1817. They used the same horse-power for a 
distillery, sawmill, cooper-shop, blacksmith and carpenter 
shop; built, in 18 18, a union meeting-house, which was also 
used as public school and Sunday School, and their father 
became the first substantial contributor to Illinois College. 
From 1676, to 17 13, Connecticut expanded more rapidly 
and emigrated more widely than any other New England 
colony, and the descendants of this state are found from 
New Hampshire to Michigan. 



CHAPTER XVI 
EDUCATION 

SINCE the leaders in the settlement of Connecticut were 
men of trained intelligence and energy, they began as 
soon as possible to lay the foundations of a school system, 
and Hartford was three years old when John Higginson 
opened a school there. There must have been a school in 
New Haven that year, for a record of the Court says that 
Thomas Fugill was required to keep Charles Higginson 
at school for one year. Christmas, 1641, New Haven 
colony ordered that a free school be started in town, and 
John Davenport was requested to ascertain the amount of 
money which would be required to support it, and to draw 
up rules for it. In 1644, the legislature of Connecticut 
established a school system, and Lord Macaulay, in a famous 
address in Parliament in 1847, eulogized the fact that 
"exiles living in the wilderness should grasp and practice 
the principle that the state should take upon itself the educa- 
tion of the people." As in all the other colonies there was 
need of schools, for the greater part of the people had 
little education when they came hither, and some of the 
most active of the proprietors could not write their names. 
Eight of the first thirty-five that settled Norwich, as ap- 
pears from inspection of deeds and conveyances, affixed 
their marks, yet among them were townsmen, deacons, and 
constables. 

The mode adopted was like that with which the colo- 

207 



208 .A. History of Corxnecticiat 

nists had been familiar in England — the method of town 
control — and the duty was laid upon the local authorities to 
establish schools, and to work with parents in the endeavor 
' ' not to suffer so much barbarism in any of the families as to 
have a single child or apprentice unable to read the holy 
word of God, and the good laws of the colony; and to bring 
them up to some lawful calling or employment." Every 
town of fifty families was required to maintain a school in 
which "reading and wrighting" should be taught, and in 
every town of one hundred households a grammar school 
should be supported, and if any town failed to have a 
grammar school it was required to contribute to a neighbor- 
ing school. In 1658, the law was modified to read thirty 
families instead of fifty, and in 1672, it was ordered that in 
place of the requirement that there should be a grammar 
school in every town with one hundred families, every 
county town should have a grammar school, with teachers 
competent to prepare for college. There were then four 
county towns, Hartford, New Haven, New London, and 
Fairfield, and the law continued for a century and a quarter. 
In the early time the studies were few but the terms were 
long, for in 1677, it was ordered that the school year be at 
least nine months in duration, but in 1690, the time required 
was reduced to six months in a year. Evidently the laws 
to promote universal education were evaded, for in 1690, the 
legislature passed the vote that since there were "many 
persons unable to read the English tongue ... the grand 
jury men in each towne doe once in the year at least, vissit 
each famaly they susspect to neglect this order . . . and if 
they finde any such children and servants not taught as 
theire yeares are capeable of . . . they shall be fyned twenty 
shillings for each offence." There was the beginning of a 
new era in the history of education in Connecticut in 1700, 
the year in which was established the "Collegiate School," 
which became Yale College. In that year was completed 
a revision of the laws, in which it was ordered that every 



Bducation 209 

town having seventy householders should have "a sufficient 
school master to teach children and youth to read and write, " 
and this school should be in session for eleven months in the 
year; also that every town with a less number than seventy 
households should have a "sufficient school master to teach 
for one half the year." The first mention of committees is 
in 1702. The clergy, authorized by the legislature, were 
the committee, visiting the schools to see that the catechism 
was thoroughly learned and religion drilled in. The custom 
of appointing a separate school committee crystallized into 
a law in 1750, when provision was made for the appoint- 
ment of such officers. 

The change from the town to the parish system was made 
in 1 7 12, when it was enacted that all the parishes, which 
were already made, or afterwards should be made, should be 
provided with funds for maintaining schools within their 
limits. At first the parishes were school districts of the 
towns, but in 1760, the societies began to organize as 
educational areas, often coterminous with towns. As 
population increased, the school districts multiplied, and 
in 1776, there were seventy-three towns and one hun- 
dred and ninety societies, every society having a de- 
finite territory. In 171 7, societies were authorized to 
choose clerks and committees, and levy taxes, and these 
powers placed them on nearly the same footing as towns. 
In 1766, it was enacted that "each town and society 
shall have full power and authority to divide themselves 
into proper and necessary districts, for keeping their 
schools, and to alter and regulate the same from time to 
time as they shall have occasion." Another step was taken 
in 1794, when it was enacted that "the several school 
districts . . . shall have power and authority to tax them- 
selves for the purpose of building and repairing a school 
house ... to choose a clerk . . . and to appoint a col- 
lector." From 1797, to 1839, committees were appointed for 
the districts by the town or society, after that they appointed 



210 A. History of Connecticut 

their own committees. A law passed in 1795, referred to the 
parishes or ecclesiastical societies "in their capacity of school 
societies," giving for the first time this title, and in 1798, 
the care of schools was transferred entirely from the towns to 
the school societies, with which it remained till 1856, when 
towns chose their system. During that period a school 
society might include a whole town, a part of a town, or 
parts of two or more towns, and all the business concerning 
schools was under its care. This system came about 
naturally, for the original towns were very large. After a 
time the dwellers in new communities petitioned for per- 
mission to form new parishes, and it was found convenient 
to manage the schools in those districts through the church 
organization. At length these societies became separate 
towns, and thus they prepared the way for a return to the 
town method. The act of 1798, perfected the old system; 
every society was given power to appoint a suitable number 
of persons (not to exceed nine) to be visitors, "to examine, 
approve and dismiss school teachers, and appoint public 
exercises." County towns were no longer required to main- 
tain a Latin school, but every society might institute a school 
of a higher order. 

Before giving an account of the later development of 
public means of education, we must speak of the School 
Fund, which has played such a part in Connecticut schools. 
The funds to support public schools have been derived from 
several sources — taxes, tuition fees, and the income of 
invested funds. Taxation and tuition fees were resorted 
to from earliest times, the first school in New Haven being 
maintained wholly by taxes. Hartford guaranteed the 
teacher's salary, though a part, if not the whole, was expected 
from tuition fees, the town making up any deficiency, and 
paying for those who were unable to pay for themselves. 
The code of 1650, provided that the teachers' "wages shall 
be paid either by the parents or masters of children, or by the 
inhabitants in general." The New Haven code of 1656, 



Education ail 

provided that one- third be paid by the town in general, 
and the other two- thirds "by them who have benefite there- 
of." In 1677, a new ste P was taken when it was ordered 
that the teacher should be paid by taxation, "except any 
town shall agree upon som other way to rayse the maynte- 
nance of him they shall imploy in the afoarsayd worke." 
The revision of 1700, ordered that a tax of forty shillings to 
a thousand pounds be levied on all property for schools, 
and if that proved insufficient, one half of the deficit should 
be made up "by the inhabitants of such town, and the other 
half by the parents or masters of the children that go to the 
school." This law remained in force until 1820. In 1754, 
the rate was cut from forty to ten shillings on the thousand 
pounds. In 1766, it was raised to twenty shillings, then to 
forty shillings, and after fifty years it was abolished. In 
1837, Connecticut received from the United States Treasury 
$763,661, its share of the Town Deposit Fund. 

There are special invested funds as sources of income, 
and the first of these was the gift of Edward Hopkins to 
Hartford and New Haven, and of Robert Bartlett of New 
London, funds used for schools of a high order. A large 
part of the funds belonging to towns and societies was de- 
rived from the Western Lands so called, in the northwestern 
corner of the state. When Sir Edmund Andros was endeav- 
oring to obtain control of the colony, a special session of the 
legislature was held January 26, 1687, to take measures to 
defeat Sir Edmund's purposes, and the public lands, that had 
not been previously sold or granted, were disposed of at that 
session, and more than half of what is now Litchfield County 
was given to Hartford and Windsor. After the Andros 
trouble was over, those towns proceeded to sell the lands, 
and of course a controversy arose between them and the 
colony, and this contest continued until 1731, when it was 
decided to divide the land into two parts, and have the 
colony take the western half and the towns the eastern. 
In 1733, the colony ordered that the seven towns, into which 



212 -A. History of Connecticut 

the western territory was divided, be sold, and the money 
received for them be given to the towns already settled, 
according to the polls and ratable estates, to be set apart 
by each town as a permanent fund. It is not known how 
much was realized by the sale, but Salisbury was sold for 
nearly seven thousand pounds, and Kent for more than 
twelve hundred. Another source of school funds was from 
an act passed in 1766, granting the arrears of excise on 
liquors, tea, and other goods, but the main school fund was 
gained by the sale of lands in Ohio. As stated elsewhere 
the charter of Charles II., in 1662, conveyed a tract extending 
from Narragansett Bay on the east to the South Sea on the 
west. In 1 68 1, Charles II. gave to William Penn the charter 
of Pennsylvania, the northern part of which had been given 
to Connecticut. After emigration had made the territory 
valuable, Connecticut asserted her claim; in 1774, and 
for eight years after, the settlers on the Susquehanna sent 
representatives to the Connecticut legislature, established 
schools, and paid taxes like other citizens of the state. The 
controversy over that region was decided in 1782, in favor 
of Pennsylvania. Though the title of Connecticut to lands 
west of Pennsylvania had never been questioned, and it 
was not practicable to attempt to control a slender strip of 
land, only seventy miles wide and extending nearly one 
eighth of the circumference of the globe, in 1786 the General 
Assembly authorized the delegates in Congress to convey 
to the United States all lands belonging to Connecticut, 
lying west of a line parallel to, and one hundred and twenty 
miles west of, Pennsylvania. The offer was accepted, and 
the lands within one hundred and twenty miles of Pennsyl- 
vania became known as the Western Reserve and sometimes 
as the New Connecticut. 

In 1792, the General Assembly granted a tract of five 
hundred thousand acres, extending across the western end 
of the reservation as a compensation for the losses inflicted 
by the British army in the Revolution on the towns along 



Education 213 

the Sound, from Greenwich to Groton. The tract thus given 
was afterwards called the Fire Lands or the Sufferers' Lands. 
In 1793, a committee of one from every county was appointed 
to sell those lands, and then came a warm discussion as to 
what should be done with the proceeds. In 1795, it was 
voted to put the money into a permanent fund for the use 
of schools, and under the control of the people in the different 
school societies; a few months later, the land was sold for 
one million two hundred thousand dollars, payable in five 
years. Interest was allowed to accumulate until 1799, when 
sixty thousand dollars was distributed on the basis of polls 
and ratable estates. In 1800, the care of the fund was 
assigned to a commission of four, whose unfitness threatened 
the fund, and James Hillhouse was appointed commissioner 
of it. In fifteen years it rose to one million seven hundred 
and nineteen thousand dollars, and more than three-quarters 
of a million had been divided among the school societies. 
The effect of this annual distribution of fifty or sixty thou- 
sand dollars was injurious in most towns, for it led to a 
decreasing taxation for the schools and a decrease of interest 
in education, and since High Schools were no longer obliga- 
tory, they were seldom organized. The state allowance 
of two dollars on every thousand raised by the towns was 
a feeble spur; in many towns the stipend from the School 
Fund was doled out at a starvation rate, giving a few weeks 
in winter and a short term in summer, and when the money 
was gone the door of the schoolhouse was locked. A short- 
sighted economy possessed the state, and since the schools 
cost little they were slightly esteemed and rapidly de- 
clined. They had been the pride of the state and the 
wonder of the land, and for a time after they waned, some 
who looked at them from afar applauded. A Kentucky 
legislator declared in 1822, "The Connecticut system has 
become an example for other states, and the admiration of 
the Union." The schools grew poorer ; schoolhouses more di- 
lapidated ; the earlier method of having six months' and even 



214 -A. History of Connecticut 

eleven months' schooling in a year gave way to the limit of 
the elasticity of the meager public money, which for forty 
years was distributed on no other condition than that it 
should be used for schools. There was a spasm of awakening 
interest now and then; a bill was passed in 1810, which 
provided that the expense of the district schools, above that 
received from the School Fund, should be met by a tax on 
each proprietor according to the number of days his pupil 
or pupils attended school. In 18 13, a bill passed the legisla- 
ture to compel proprietors of factories to have all working 
for them trained to read, write, and cipher, with a glance 
at their morals, in which the selectmen were to help. 

Fervid imagination and Yankee pride have combined to 
halo the Little Red Schoolhouse with a glory mingled with 
sentimental pathos; and there have been in some of them 
teachers of power and inspiration, who would have taught 
just as well had they been paid according to their deserts, 
and if the schoolhouses had been less meagerly furnished. 
At length, public sentiment awoke, and in 1830, a convention 
of teachers complained of the indifference of parents; in 
1836, Governor Edwards deplored the quality of the teach- 
ers, and in 1838, school conditions were investigated, with 
the result that the citizens were declared to be lacking in 
interest, school visitors neglectful, and teachers inefficient. 
Wage of men teachers was fourteen and a half dollars per 
month, and of women five and three-quarters. More than 
six thousand children of school ages were not in attendance. 
Changes for the better rapidly followed the report: a bill 
for the better supervision was passed; the Connecticut 
Common School Journal was founded; in 1849, a state normal 
school was established in New Britain under the auspices 
of Henry Barnard, who was aided by the cooperation of 
Mrs. Emma Hart Willard. In 1855, a vote was passed to 
enable a town to have a school of a higher grade; in 1865, 
the state board of education was organized, and in 1868, the 
town tax was increased enough to make schools free. The 



Education 215 

length of school required as the condition for obtaining the 
public money was fixed at four months in 1841, six months 
in 1855, and in 1870, it was voted that public schools be 
maintained for at least thirty weeks in a year in every school 
district in which the number of pupils between four and 
sixteen was twenty-four or more, and for twenty-four weeks 
in all others, but that there should be no schools in districts 
in which the number of children fell below eight pupils. 

In 1839, the powers of the school districts were greatly 
enlarged, and they were declared bodies corporate, so far as 
to be able to purchase, receive, hold, and convey property, 
and make all lawful arrangements for the management of 
schools such as taxation, providing rooms, and employing 
teachers. In 1866-69, it was voted that any town might 
abolish all school districts and maintain a central school — 
an entering wedge for the act of 1909, which declared that 
after July of that year, every town must be a school district, 
with a committee having the power of district committee 
and school visitors, except in a few towns organized under 
special acts of the legislature. Thus there was a return to 
the early town management. In 1897, it was voted that any 
town in which a High School was not maintained, should 
pay the whole or part of the tuition fee of any child residing 
with his parents in said town, and should have the written 
consent of the school visitors or committee to attend a High 
School in another town. In 1905, a law was passed requiring 
a committee or visitors, discovering any child over fourteen 
and under sixteen with insufficient schooling, to notify the 
parents or guardians, who should cause him to attend school. 
In 1907, it was voted by the Assembly that any town may 
direct the visitors, committee, or board of education to pur- 
chase, at the expense of the town, text-books and other 
supplies used in the public schools, to be loaned to the pupils 
free of charge. Ten years before, it was voted that towns 
should supply pupils incapable of buying books. Of late 
years much attention has been given to the subject of 



216 A. History of Connecticut 

libraries in the schools, and the state appropriates certain 
sums of money to them, on condition that the towns do 
their part. There are also loan libraries in circulation. It 
was voted in 1909, that a town shall insist, by transportation 
or otherwise, on schooling for every child over seven and 
under sixteen. Provision has also been made of late for 
the medical examination of children, and it has been 
ordered that hygiene, including the effect of alcohol on 
health and character, shall be taught as a regular branch 
of study. 

In no other state is there a more rigid enforcement of 
attendance and employment laws. Rural supervision is 
of decided service in country towns. The passing of the 
corporate districts into the town system is a long step in 
advance. There are manual training departments in some 
High Schools, and in 1907, fifty thousand dollars was 
appropriated for trade schools, committing the state to 
the policy of public instruction in trades. Among the 
New England states Connecticut is second to no other in 
liberal provision for education; the school fund of more 
than two millions, with an annual income of one hun- 
dred and ten thousand dollars, ceased long ago to pro- 
voke a false economy, and is a decided benefit. The 
Normal Schools at Danbury, New Britain, New Haven, and 
Willimantic have a total of nearly eight hundred pupils, 
and graduate annually nearly three hundred teachers, 
though this does not supply the waste. The purpose of 
the Trade Schools is to "equip that large number of children 
who must work in the skilled trades with the primary es- 
sentials and practical principles of their trades," and the 
demand for this education far exceeds the facilities of the 
schools now in operation in Bridgeport and in New Britain. 
There are classes both in the day and evening, and the 
subjects treated are : machine work, carpentry work, pattern 
making, sewing, including dressmaking, printing, plumbing, 
and drawing. Evening schools are conducted in forty towns, 



Education 217 

with a registration of over ten thousand pupils, and the 
number attending the one hundred and fifty-three kinder- 
gartens is over eleven thousand. In ninety-one towns 
children are conveyed to a central school with general 
satisfaction to all concerned. The elimination of the district 
system, referred to on an earlier page, is a return to the 
early town management of schools, and hastens the escape 
from the antiquated conservatism, the penurious extrava- 
gance of the district school system, which seemed necessary 
for the time, but is now as much out of date as are stage- 
coaches and spinning-wheels. An elaborate system of 
supervision has been organized by grouping towns, and 
thirty-four supervisors are at work, responsible to the state 
board of education; besides these many towns have their 
own supervisors. This tends to greater efficiency. It is 
coming to be recognized by the intelligent that local manage- 
ment in districts is apt to be attended by injustice and 
injury to pupils; that many do not receive adequate atten- 
tion, when several grades gather in a miserable room, with 
antiquated equipment, underpaid teachers, and an unscien- 
tific and haphazard course of studies. The movement from 
the condition in which the state lingered for years is slow. 
In a hundred towns there are over three hundred schools 
with an average attendance of less than twelve. Changes 
come gradually in the land of steady habits. The vigorous 
community life, so prominent in the towns, which in some 
ways have been little commonwealths, has fostered a con- 
servatism, if not a self-satisfaction, which sometimes fails to 
see that methods, which were the only ones available in the 
sparsely settled colony, have been outgrown, and that the 
schools need to be standardized in grades, studies, and books, 
for the sake of efficiency, economy, and the easy passage of 
pupils from school to school. The recent complete change 
of system, the valuable work of the state board of educa- 
tion and the deepening interest are putting Connecticut into 
the front ranks in public school education. 



218 A History of Connecticut 

We pass now to the history of the instruction in the 
public schools. In early times they were primitive, and 
were taught in the winter by men, and the larger boys 
attended, and sometimes matched their strength with the 
master's; the summer schools were attended only by the 
younger children, and were taught by women and girls. 
The seats were hard; the desks rude, but elaborately deco- 
rated by the versatile jackknife. Until the Revolution, 
about the only books in the hands of the pupils were the 
Bible, the New England Primer, with its doleful pictures, 
and the spelling-book. The younger children had the 
famous "horn-book," shaped somewhat like a fan; it was a 
thin board with a handle, and through the horn which 
covered the board there could be seen the alphabet and 
Lord's Prayer. Arithmetic to the "Rule of Three" was 
taught, and the one text-book was in the hands of the 
teacher, who dictated rules and examples from it. The 
first geography for schools was not published until 1784. 
There were no maps or charts or blackboards. English 
grammar received scanty attention, and it would seem that 
the spelling-book was neglected, judging from the ingenious 
literary samples that have come down to us, of which we 
may take as a fair specimen the indorsement on Governor 
Bradford's History of Plymouth Colony by his grandson, 
Samuel Bradford, which reads as follows: 

This book was rit by goefner William Bradford, and gifen to 
his son mager John Bradford, rit by me Samuel Bradford, 
Mach. 20, 1705. 

Teachers wrote copies for penmanship and mended the 
goose-quills. There is an interesting letter from President 
Humphrey to Henry Barnard concerning schools between 
1790, and 1800, in which he says: 

Our school books were the Bible and Webster's Spelling Book; 
one or two others were found in some schools for the reading 




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Education 219 

classes — grammar was hardly taught at all in any of them, and 
that little was confined almost entirely to committing and 
reciting rules. Parsing was one of the occult sciences of my day; 
we had some few lessons in geography by questions and answers, 
but no maps, no globes, and as for blackboards, such a thing 
was not thought of until long after. Children's reading and 
picturebooks we had none, the fables in Webster's Spelling Book 
came nearest to them. Arithmetic was hardly taught at all 
in the day schools; as a substitute, there were some evening 
schools in most of the districts. Spelling was one of the exer- 
cises in most of the districts. 

A very early book was the Dilworth speller, an English 
work, with many terms not fitted to American life. It was 
an epoch in education when, in 1783, appeared the first of 
a series of three books by Noah Webster. He wrote: 

In the year 1782, while the American army was lying on the banks 
of the Hudson, I kept a classical school in Goshen, N. Y. I 
there compiled two small elementary books for teaching the 
English language. The country was impoverished, intercourse 
with Great Britain was interrupted, school books were scarce 
and scarcely obtainable, and there was no certain prospect of 
peace. 

The first of Webster's school-books to appear was the speller, 
through which the author gave to the country a uniform 
language. It sold in such numbers that, by 1847, twenty- 
four million copies had been disposed of, and by 1870, forty 
millions. In 1785, Webster issued a grammar, and in 1787, 
a reader. Another school-book by a Connecticut man was 
a geography published by Jedediah Morse of Woodstock 
in 1784 — the first of its kind in America; in 1789, he 
issued a valuable work called the American Geography and, 
in 18 12, there appeared an encyclopedia of knowledge by 
the same author. In one of his geographies Morse said of 
the trans-Mississippi region, "It has been supposed that all 
settlers who go beyond the Mississippi will be forever lost 



220 A. History of Connecticut 

to the United States." In 1827, Jesse Olney of Union 
published his Atlas-Geography, which was popular through 
the country, with a circulation of eighty thousand copies. 
In 1796, Thomas Hubbard of Norwich published an intro- 
duction to arithmetic for use in the public schools, in the 
preface of which is a statement which must have cheered 
the young folks, for he said, "I have omitted fractions, not 
because I think them useless, but because they are not 
absolutely necessary." The most widely used arithmetic 
was by Daboll, who was born in Groton in 1750. This work, 
called The Schoolmaster' s Assistant, stood for years in the 
front rank with Webster's Speller. A new era in the study 
of Latin was created by Ethan A. Andrews, a native of New 
Britain, by his Latin-English lexicon and his text-books; so 
complete and scholarly was his work that the lexicon be- 
came a standard, and the First Lessons in Latin reached 
thirty-four editions. 

The education of girls was for years as scanty as that for 
boys, and in the second generation there were daughters 
of men in important positions who could not write their 
names, though in many towns the schoolmistress taught 
the children to behave, ply the needle through the mysteries 
of hemming, overhand, stitching, and darning, up to the 
sampler, and to read from spelling-book to the Psalter; 
laying emphasis on sitting up straight, conquering the spell- 
ing-book, never telling a lie, and being mannerly, especially 
to the minister, whose monthly round to catechize gave him 
an opportunity to chide the careless. Punishments were 
severe, and some fathers repeated at home the strokes 
given in school. A famous New London teacher had two 
strips of board, joined together by a hinge, in which the 
fingers of mischievous children were pinched, and the birch 
was a favorite form of torture, — a good training for torment- 
ing witches, and suggestive attendants of a stern theology. 

The decadence of the public schools after the Revolution 
led to the forming of many private schools, usually called 




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Education 221 

academies, a name probably borrowed from an essay pub- 
lished by Franklin in 1749, and Franklin says that he was 
indebted to Defoe, who, in 1697, had urged the building of 
schools like the academies of France and Spain. The old 
academy at Lebanon was one of the earliest of the schools, 
which for half a century furnished the highest education 
that three-fourths of the young men received. One of the 
earliest and best of these was the school at Greenfield Hill, 
conducted by Timothy Dwight, 1783-96, and it was one of 
the earliest coeducational schools in the country. Acade- 
mies differed from the High School in that they were designed 
for all the young people in the neighborhood, gathering 
picked boys and girls from twenty towns and often at 
greatest sacrifice; going to school for study there was little 
difficulty in maintaining discipline. The grammar school 
in Fairfield was succeeded in 1 781, by the Staples Acad- 
emy, and three years later the first academy in Windham 
County was chartered for Plainfield; in 18 16, it had a fund 
of eight hundred and thirty-four dollars, with eighty pupils. 
Not to be outdone by her neighbor, an academy was char- 
tered for Woodstock in 1802, and built by the voluntary sub- 
scriptions and labor of neighbors; a fund of ten thousand 
dollars was secured, putting the school on a firm basis. In 
1802, the Berlin Academy was incorporated, and eleven 
years later, the Bacon Academy at Colchester, thirty-six 
thousand dollars being raised and a "very beautiful building" 
of three stories erected. In 1816, it had two hundred 
pupils. In 1806, Noah Webster wrote: 

Many academies are maintained by private funds. In these are 
taught primary branches and geography, grammar, languages, 
and higher mathematics. There are also academies for young 
ladies in which are taught the additional branches of needle- 
work, drawing and embroidery. Among the academies of the 
first reputation are one in Plainfield and the Bacon Academy. 
The most distinguished schools for young ladies are the Union 
School in New Haven and the school in Litchfield. 



222 .A History of Connecticut 

In 1806, an academy was incorporated in Stratford; in 1816, 
Wallingford had one, teaching Latin, Greek, and English; 
in 1 8 14, the Danbury Academy was incorporated; in 1821, 
the Fairfield; in 1823, the Goshen Academy; in 1825, 
the school at Madison, succeeded in 1886, by the Hand 
Academy. In 181 7, there was formed an academy at 
Wilton, which became famous under the Olmsteads; in 1829, 
Greenwich and Tolland followed the fashion; Brooklyn in 
1830, and Say brook three years later. 

A pioneer in academies for girls was the school taught 
by Sarah Pierce in Litchfield, which began in 1792, and 
during nearly forty years it trained over fifteen hundred pupils ; 
the building is gone but it is claimed that this was the first 
school for girls in the United States. Hartford Female 
Seminary was incorporated in 1827, and so popular was it 
under Catharine Beecher that it had at times one hundred 
and fifty pupils from outside the state. We have spoken of 
academies for girls at Litchfield and New Haven; Norwich 
also formed one, and in 1799, an academy for girls was in- 
corporated in New London. Nathan Hale, a hero of the 
Revolution, taught in New London in a school incorporated 
in 1774, and he wrote his uncle that he had twenty young 
ladies in his school from five to seven in the morning, and 
thirty-two boys through the day. The Goodrich School 
in Norwich was popular for years. A school for girls was 
opened in Farmington in 1846, by Sarah Porter, who for 
more than half a century was a vital force for culture and 
philanthropy. The Golden Hill Seminary of Bridgeport, 
Grove Hall at New Haven, Windsor Female Seminary at 
Windsor, and St. Margaret's at Waterbury have had wide 
repute. Academies continued to form through the nine- 
teenth century — the Brainerd Academy at Haddam in 
1839; one in Durham in 1842; the Parker in Woodbury 
in 1 85 1; the famous Wauramaug at New Preston in 
1852. In 1700, Norwich was indicted by the grand jury 
for "failing to maintain a school to instruct," though 




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Education 223 

there were schools enough; districts running riot with 
forty school organizations; in 1854, the Norwich Free 
Academy was incorporated, and later, J. F. Slater gave a 
building, costing one hundred and sixty thousand dollars, 
together with other funds. The Connecticut Literary 
Institute was established in Suffield in 1835; three years 
later, the Betts Academy was started at Stamford, and soon 
afterwards the Black Hall School at Lyme was organized. 
The Gunnery at Washington has had a noted history : Fred- 
erick W. Gunn graduated from Yale in 1837, and went back 
to his native town and opened a school, but his abolition 
views called down the thunder of the pulpit and the excom- 
munication of the church; forced to leave town, he went to 
Pennsylvania, whence he returned to Washington in 1847, 
and reopened the Gunnery, a unique and famous school. 
The personality of the founder was strong and positive, and 
the methods of discipline original. A boy caught smoking 
swallowed an emetic, and a pupil who plunged a cat in water 
was soused in the same element. 

It is not easy to give the names of all the academies that 
did so much for the young people of the state during that 
dreary half century when the Connecticut public schools 
were passing through their dark ages. Many are held in 
affectionate remembrance, such as the Emerson School in 
Wethersfield, the Hart School in Farmington, and the Wood- 
stock Academy. They were feeders of Yale, trainers of 
many useful men and women, and sources of intelligence 
and power in scores of communities. There were also a few 
denominational schools of decided value, such as the Epis- 
copal Academy of Connecticut, founded at Cheshire in 
1794, with Principal Bowdin who had charge of the educa- 
tion of Gideon Welles and Admiral Foote. In 1865, the 
Seabury Institute was incorporated in Say brook. Roman 
Catholic schools came late, since the population of the 
earlier times was Protestant; the School of the Cathedral 
of Notre Dame being opened in Waterbury in 1869, the 



224 -A. History of Connecticut 

Seminary of Saint Joseph in Hartford in 1873, and the 
Academy of the Holy Family, a coeducational institution, 
in Baltic in 1874. 

Though academies were so valuable and so popular that 
as many as ten thousand young people were at times in 
them, it was at length seen that more ample provision 
should be made for higher education, and on July 4, 1838, 
it was voted to establish a free High School in Hartford, 
twelve thousand dollars being appropriated. The first 
building was on the corner of Asylum and Ann streets, 
and with it was incorporated a grammar school; a building 
large enough for three hundred pupils. Other cities soon 
had High Schools: Middletown in 1841, New Britain in 
1850, New Haven in 1859, Bridgeport in 1876, Meriden in 
1 88 1, and Bristol in 1887. Academies were not set aside 
entirely by High Schools ; many of the older ones continue. 
Schools of another class are forming: such as the Bulkley 
School in Meriden in 1881, the Mystic English and Class- 
ical School, the Hotchkiss and Taconic schools in Lakeville, 
the Westover School in Middlebury, the Williams Memorial 
Institute, the Gilbert School at Winsted, and Westminster 
School at Simsbury. »• 

Connecticut has done much for education outside the 
state, both in establishing schools of a high grade, and also 
in writing school-books. The most original and effective 
woman the state has produced is Mrs. Emma Hart Willard, 
who was born in Berlin in 1787, and after considerable 
experience as a teacher, published in 1818, a Plan for Improv- 
ing Female Education, a work which in 1819, led to the 
adoption by the New York legislature of the first provision 
for the higher education of women ever passed by any 
legislature, and to the incorporation in 1821, of the Willard 
School in Troy, from which have gone thousands of well- 
equipped women, under whose influences have been formed, 
largely in the South, two hundred similar schools. In an- 
other department of education Mrs. Willard and her sister, 




Emma Hart Willard (1787-1870) 

From an Old Print 



Education 225 

Mrs. Almira Phelps, who has been associated with her, 
have been of decided service, publishing school-books in 
geography, history, and science. 

Reference has been made to Henry Barnard, who was 
born in Hartford in 181 1. After graduating from Yale 
in 1830, and teaching a short time, he went to Europe and 
studied European methods of education, devoting himself 
to the task of gaining a wide knowledge, not only of public 
schools, but also of the treatment of the insane and of 
criminals. In 1838, he obtained the passage of a bill in the 
General Assembly for the better local supervision of the 
schools. That bill provided for a board of School Com- 
missioners for the state, on which Barnard served for four 
years. He traveled over the country to elevate public 
sentiment, and gave a lasting uplift to public instruction. 
The Normal School at New Britain was one result of his 
work. He was for a time Superintendent of Schools in 
Rhode Island, chancellor of the University of Wisconsin, 
and the first United States Commissioner of Education. 
He established the first system of state libraries, and 
organized teachers in a national association. The Journal 
of Education, which he began in 1855, is called by the Bri- 
tannica "by far the most valuable work in our language on 
the history of education." 

Of Connecticut birth too is B. G. Northrop, originator 
of the village improvement societies and Arbor Day, and 
for years president of the National Educational Association. 
William T. Harris was born in North Killingley in 1835, and 
after his training at Yale, he established the Journal of 
Speculative Philosophy, edited a series of school text-books, 
and was United States Commissioner of Education for years. 
Samuel Kirkland, who has an honored place among educators, 
was born in Norwich in 1741, became missionary to the Six 
Nations, and in appreciation of his invaluable services 
in the Revolution, he received a grant of land from 
the government, from which he set apart a portion for the 
is 



226 A History of Connecticut 

Hamilton Oneida Academy, which in 1812, was incorporated 
as Hamilton College. The name of Asa Packer, born in 
Groton in 1806, is in the first class of educators. He de- 
veloped the Lehigh Valley railroad, and in 1865, he gave 
half a million dollars and a hundred and fifteen acres of land 
to found Lehigh University, to which he bequeathed in his will 
two million dollars. Similar in spirit was John F. Slater of 
Norwich, who gave a million dollars for the uplifting of the 
lately emancipated population of the Southern states; he 
also gave Norwich the Slater Museum, and did much for the 
Free Academy. Mention should also be made of Walter 
Newberry of East Windsor, who gave four million dollars 
to found the Newberry Library in Chicago, and of Joseph 
Hand, who gave a million and a half for the education of the 
negroes in the South. The name of Manasseh Cutler de- 
serves mention here as famous in education, since after his 
service in the Revolution he was a pioneer in Ohio, was the 
first to observe the transit of Venus, was prominent in 
organizing and settling the Northwest Territory, and had 
a leading part in drafting the Ordinance of 1787, which 
guaranteed complete religious liberty, public support of 
schools, and the prohibition of slavery in the Northwest. 

Reference has been made to school libraries, and it 
remains to mention the movement, which has been so 
strong for fifty years that nearly every town has a public 
library. There was an earlier endeavor, which resulted 
in forming subscription libraries, after the idea of Franklin. 
In 1893, Connecticut passed a bill authorizing the estab- 
lishing of a library commission, with the appointing power 
in the hands of the Board of Education. Every town 
was notified that the state was willing to give for one year 
as much as it would give, up to two hundred dollars. The 
first to respond were Sufheld, Seymour, and Wethersfield; 
two years later, there were libraries in twenty-five 
towns. In 1895, the legislature voted to give every free 
public library an annual sum of one hundred dollars with 




Manasseh Cutler (1744-1823) 



Education 227 

certain mild conditions of state supervision, and many towns 
have availed themselves of this offer, though there are 
some, that prefer not to come under state supervision. 
Bridgeport was first to found a free public library, and New 
Haven was next, by a special act of the legislature in 1886. 
The name of Philip Marett of New Haven will be remembered 
for his gift of one-tenth of his estate of six hundred and fifty 
thousand dollars "for the purchase of books for the young 
men's Institute or any public library which may from time 
to time exist in the city." The income of that fund buys 
one-half the books for the New Haven public library. 
There are libraries housed in beautiful buildings, some of 
them richly endowed, such as: Scoville Library, in Salisbury; 
Eldredge Library, affluent with tapestries, supported by 
Isabella Eldredge, the Acton Library at Old Saybrook, 
the Scranton Memorial at Madison, and the James Black- 
stone Memorial at Branford. 



CHAPTER XVII 
THE COLLEGES 

IT was apparent in the first years of the settlement that a 
college was needed to carry to the goal the high ideals of 
the founders, to "perfect youth in English grammar, com- 
position, arithmetic, geography, Latin, Greek, religion 
and morality, to form for usefulness and happiness in the 
various relations of social life." Under the influence of John 
Davenport, New Haven began to plan for such an institu- 
tion in 1 64 1. Owing to a protest from the leading men of 
Massachusetts, it was allowed to wait; they urged that all 
the resources of New England were barely enough to support 
Harvard, whose first building was erected in 1637. I* 1 I0 52, 
the project was formally given up for the time, but the New 
Haven authorities had been directed, five years before, to 
reserve one of the home lots for the college, and it was only 
a question of time. 

In 1698, the General Synod of churches devised a plan to 
establish a college, intending to call it "The School of the 
Church." "They were to nominate the first president and 
inspectors, and to exercise an influence over all elections to 
preserve orthodoxy in the governors." The institution 
was to be supported by the churches. The following year 
this plan was dropped, but ten ministers were named as 
trustees, and a body of the most prominent clergymen in 
the colony met in New Haven in the year 1700, and became 
a society of eleven members for the formation of a college. 

228 



THe Colleges 229 

Later in the same year, there was another meeting in Bran- 
ford, when each minister laid upon a table his contribution 
of books, with the words, " I give these books for the founding 
of a college in this colony." The contribution amounted 
to forty folio volumes pertaining to theology, with not a 
volume of classical literature or science. In the following 
year, Sir John Davie of Groton, while on a visit to England, 
sent to the college one hundred and sixty volumes, most of 
which were collected among the nonconformist ministers 
in Devonshire. The Rev. Noadiah Russell of Middletown 
was appointed librarian, and the volumes remained in his 
possession three years. The act of depositing the books has 
been considered the beginning of the college ; but it did not 
have a corporate existence until October 16, 1701, when the 
General Assembly gave it a charter to make it legal, to 
encourage donations, and that it might become an owner of 
real estate. Judge Samuel Sewall and Isaac Addington of 
Boston prepared the draft of the charter, which was pre- 
sented to the legislature with a petition signed by a number 
of ministers and laymen; an annual grant amounting to 
about sixty pounds being voted to aid in the support of 
the institution, which in the charter was called a Collegiate 
School; no place of habitation being mentioned, the trustees 
having powers to decide on the site and to grant degrees and 
licenses. 

The annual appropriation was continued for fifty years. 
The first private donor, other than the organizers, was 
James Fitch of Norwich, who gave six hundred and thirty- 
seven acres of land in Killingley, and glass and nails enough 
for a college hall. After the granting of the charter, the 
trustees met in New Haven, and decided that Saybrook was 
the most convenient place for the college for a time. 
After the eminent Rev. Isaac Chauncy of Stratford had 
declined the presidency, the Rev. Abraham Pierson of 
Killingworth (now Clinton) was appointed rector, and since 
his people were unwilling to part with their pastor, Yale 



230 A. History of Connecticut 

College had its abode in the Killingworth parsonage. 
From March until September, 1702, Jacob Hemingway- 
travelled several miles to college, "and solus was all the 
college the first year." At the first commencement, which 
was held in Saybrook in September, 1702, there were no 
public services, but the trustees gave the degree of Master of 
Arts to four Harvard students; making another Bachelor 
of Arts. The first student of Yale to be graduated was John 
Hart of Farmington, and at his graduation, September 15, 
1703, he was chosen tutor with a salary of fifty pounds 
country pay ; the books showing that the treasurer paid 
him the first year, nine pounds "tuteridg money." Until 
1709, there were three classes, Senior Sophisters, Sopho- 
mores, and Freshmen, and a system of fines was arranged 
"for the preventing of irreligion, idleness and other im- 
moralities." The tuition was thirty shillings a year, and the 
studies were Latin, Greek, philosophy, mathematics and 
surveying, with a weekly recitation of the Assembly's 
Catechism in Latin and Ames's Theological Theses. In the 
second year, the students increased to eight, and a contribu- 
tion was solicited from the colony to build a college house. 
The resources of the people were small, as there were only 
about thirty incorporated towns, and the population was 
scarcely fifteen thousand, but they gladly helped. 

After the death of Rector Pierson in 1707, Samuel 
Andrews of Milford was chosen rector, and the senior class 
went to Milford, while the other two classes were at Say- 
brook under the care of two tutors, and the college was thus 
divided until 17 16. There was a decided difference of 
opinion among the trustees regarding the place for the 
college, and divided instruction, struggles of the towns to 
secure it, the coming on of the French and Indian war and 
smallpox so scattered the students that it looked as though 
the little school might vanish. Some students went to 
Wethersfield and placed themselves under the instruction 
of Elisha Williams. New Haven contributed seven hun- 




The Buildings of Modern Yale University : Phelps Gateway and Hall at the Left, 

then Welch, Osborn, and Vanderbilt; with " Old South Middle," now 

Connecticut Hall, near the Center, and President Woolsey's 

Statue at the Right of it 

From a Photograph 




View of the Connecticut State Library, on Capitol Hill, Hartford 

From a Photograph 



TKe Colleges 231 

dred pounds toward the college and invited it to build there ; 
Saybrook gave four hundred pounds and wanted it there; 
while Hartford and Wethersfield gave money and claimed 
it. On October 17, 1716, the trustees voted to place it at 
New Haven, and continued Samuel Andrews rector pro tem- 
pore. The Assembly in 171 7, approved the removal and 
voted a grant for buildings. Saybrook resisted the change 
of the library to New Haven; and it was judged necessary 
for the governor and council to be present when the sheriff 
executed the orders of the General Assembly. The Say- 
brook people destroyed the carts furnished for the trans- 
portation of the books, the bridges between the town and 
New Haven were broken down, and many valuable papers 
and books were lost. The first commencement held at 
New Haven was in 1717; the number of students was thirty- 
one, and four received the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Part 
of the students continued at Wethersfield, the northern part 
of the colony being opposed to New Haven as a site for the 
college. The commencement held September 12, 17 18, at 
New Haven, was the first one to which the public was in- 
vited ; it was attended by the principal laymen and ministers 
in the colony. In that year an edifice of wood, one hundred 
and seventy feet long, twenty-two wide, and three stories 
high, containing about fifty rooms for students, besides a 
hall, library, and kitchen, was completed at a cost of about 
one thousand pounds. One of the most liberal donors was 
Elihu Yale, a native of New Haven, who at the age of ten 
was taken to England, and later went to the East Indies, 
where he became governor of the East India Company. 
The books and goods he sent over were worth about five 
hundred pounds, and in recognition of his munificence, at 
the commencement in 1718, the new building constituting 
the college was named Yale, and dedicated to Elihu Yale. 
On the same day commencement was held in Wethersfield 
for the students there; but the legislature healed the differ- 
ences by conciliatory acts, and the college moved out of 



232 .A. History of Connecticut 

troubled waters under the leadership of Timothy Cutler, 
a Congregational minister of Stratford, an accomplished 
scholar and imposing personality, who was appointed 
rector in 17 19, and for him a house was built; instructors 
and students increased, the library was enriched, when 
suddenly, at the commencement in 1722, it was announced 
that the new rector and Tutor Brown, who comprised the 
faculty, had embraced Episcopacy. After a warm debate, 
the faculty was dismissed, and a resolution passed that 
henceforth every candidate for the office of rector or tutor 
should declare his assent to the Saybrook Platform, and 
satisfy the trustees of the soundness of his theology. 

Elisha Williams was the next rector, and under him the 
college prospered again. In 1732, the General Assembly 
granted Yale three hundred acres in each of the new towns 
of Norfolk, Canaan, Goshen, Cornwall, and Kent. The 
same year Berkeley, afterwards Bishop of Cloyne, made 
large contributions of money and books. In 1739, Rector 
Williams was compelled by ill health to resign, and Thomas 
Clap of Windham was chosen to fill the vacancy. Rector 
Clap was a scholarly man, and his genius for administration 
was prodigious. The library was catalogued; a new set 
of laws was compiled for the college, and a code was estab- 
lished for the government, ranging all the way from 
boxing a freshman on the ear to expulsion, though fining 
was a favorite penalty. In 1745, a new charter was ob- 
tained for "The President and Fellows of Yale College." 
In 1750, the General Assembly helped erect Connecticut 
Hall, and permitted a lottery to complete the work. 

The social strata of the times are shown in the college 
catalogues, which, until 1767, were arranged in order of 
rank : sons of officers of the colony, then of ministers, lawyers, 
artisans, and tradesmen. The etiquette was laborious be- 
tween faculty and students, and students conversed with one 
another in Latin. All undergraduates were forbidden to 
wear their hats (unless it was stormy) in the front door- 



TKe Colleges 233 

yard of the president or a professor's house, or within ten 
rods of the person of the president, or eight rods of a profes- 
sor, or five rods of a tutor. Freshmen (except in stormy- 
weather) were required to go uncovered in the college yard 
until the May vacation, unless their hands were so full they 
were forced to rest the hat where it belonged. The fresh- 
men were not allowed to run in the sacred college yard, nor 
up and down stairs ; neither were they allowed to call to any 
one from a college window. When near a gate or door in 
the college, freshmen were to pause and look around to see 
if there was a superior within three rods of the opening, and 
they must not enter first without a signal from the superior. 
Fines continued until the days of President D wight. In 
three years under President Clap, one hundred and seventy- 
two pounds was collected by fines. Here are some penal- 
ties: absence from prayers a penny, tardiness a half -penny, 
absence from church fourpence, for playing cards or dice 
two shillings sixpence, for jumping out of a college window 
one shilling. 

In 1755, when revivals under the preaching of George 
Whitefield and others were causing much excitement through 
New England, President Clap issued a declaration, signed 
by himself and members of the faculty, denouncing White- 
field's teaching, and creating in the minds of many good 
people a prejudice against the college. Faculty and stu- 
dents had attended the church in New Haven, but the ortho- 
doxy of the minister not being clear to the president, he 
established a college church; not even asking the legislature 
for the right to do so, but claiming that as an incorporated 
body the college was not dependent on the General Assembly 
in such a matter. The opposition attacked the college as 
"too independent," but President Clap appeared before the 
Assembly, and argued so powerfully in favor of the position 
that the civil authorities had no more control over Yale 
than over any other persons or estate in the colony that no 
action was taken in the matter, and the question has never 



234 A History of Connecticut 

been raised since. After Rector Clap died in 1767, Naphtali 
Daggett, professor of theology, was acting president, and, 
in 1779, when Tryon led the British against New Haven, 
among the hasty levies to repel the attack was President 
Daggett with a shotgun. After his companions fled, he 
stood his ground, blazing away until a detachment of the 
enemy captured him, and the officer, unmindful of Yale 
instructions to freshmen as to their manrters, asked sharply, 
"What are you doing here, you old fool, firing on His Maj- 
esty's troops?" "Exercising the rights of war," said the 
theologian. The rights of war took a disagreeable turn for 
the preacher. In his own words : 

They damned me, those who took me, because they spared my 
life. Thus, 'midst a thousand insults, my infernal driver 
hastened me along farther than my strength would admit, in the 
extreme heat of the day, weakened as I was by my wounds and 
the loss of blood, which, at a moderate computation, could not 
be less than a quart. And when I failed in some degree through 
faintness, he would strike me on the back with a heavy walking- 
staff, and kick me behind with his foot. At length by the 
supporting power of God, I arrived at the Green in New Haven. 
... I obtained leave of an officer to be carried into the Widow 
Lyman's and laid on a bed, where I lay the rest of the day and 
the succeeding night, in such excrutiating pain as I never felt 
before. 

His life was spared through the influence of William 
Chandler, a Tory, and one of his pupils, but he never re- 
covered his vigor and died the next year, leaving some silver 
and negroes to the value of one hundred pounds. Ezra 
Stiles, who succeeded Dr. Clap, was inaugurated July 8, 
1 778, and was also made professor of church history. He was 
a valuable leader of the college, with salary of one hundred 
and sixty pounds, to be paid in wheat, pork, corn, and beef, 
or their equivalents in money, together with a house and ten 
acres of land. There were one hundred and thirty-two 




Timothy Dwight (1752-1817). President of Yale College (1795-1817) 

From an Old Engraving 



TKe Colleges 235 

undergraduates, and the faculty consisted of president, a 
professor of mathematics and another of divinity, besides 
three tutors, though lack of funds in 1781, caused the dis- 
missal of the tutors. In the strain of the Revolution the 
college was divided. Tutor D wight took some of the stu- 
dents to Wethersfield ; Professor Story asked to take another 
contingent to Glastonbury, while President Daggett visited 
the classes as often as possible. Many students were in the 
army; four of the officers at Bunker Hill were Yale men; 
Nathan Hale was educated there; Major-General David 
Wooster, mortally wounded at the Tryon raid, Colonel 
Hitchcock, valiant at the Princeton fight, Captain David 
Bushnell of torpedo fame, and Oliver Wolcott were all of 
Yale. 

Modern Yale began with the inauguration of Timothy 
D wight in 1795. The service his powerful mind and lofty 
personality gave to the mental and religious life of the 
college, in days when infidelity was rampant there, cannot 
be exaggerated. It was under the wise leadership of this 
man of breadth and foresight that the college entered the 
national field. At first, President Dwight and Professor 
Meigs, with three tutors, carried the whole burden of teach- 
ing, but when the students increased, the faculty was en- 
larged, and the three men who were added to the faculty 
were Jeremiah Day, James L. Kingsley, and Benjamin 
Silliman: the first an able mathematician, whose text-books 
were widely used; the second, an accurate scholar in Latin, 
Greek, and Hebrew, and called the Addison of America; 
the third, an accomplished pioneer in science. President 
Dwight abolished fines and fagging, and in his day there 
was published the first annual catalogue, a single sheet — 
said to be first of its kind in America. He had the fore- 
sight to buy most of the land between College, Chapel, 
High, and Elm streets and in 1800, there were built North 
Middle and the Lyceum — parts of the Old Brick Row. The 
laboratory had been built earlier, in 1782, and there Profes- 



236 A History of Connecticut 

sor Silliman performed those electrical experiments which 
Morse, his pupil, carried to such effective issues. The 
laboratory was so deep in the earth that the lecturer's head 
was six feet below the surface of the ground; but Silliman's 
zeal was not buried. In 1806, President D wight urged the 
establishment of the Medical School, and helped to effect a 
union between the college and the Connecticut Medical 
Association, which had controlled medical education in the 
state, and in 18 10, the Medical Institution of Yale College 
was chartered. Eight years later it opened with a medical 
faculty of Jonathan Knight, then but twenty-three, to be- 
come a distinguished surgeon and unrivaled lecturer, Eneas 
Munson, Eli Ives, a successful physician, who was noted 
for his knowledge of the indigenous materia medica, Nathan 
Smith, whose studies in Europe gave him an extraordinary 
medical education for his time, and Benjamin Silliman. 

President D wight's successor was Professor Jeremiah 
Day, who was inaugurated president in 18 17. Quiet and 
retiring, his administrative ability with his zeal for system 
and order had a decided influence on the college. A favor- 
ite expression of his was, " Punct-oo-ality is a vir-too." 
It was a turbulent era, when the famous "bread and butter 
rebellion" and "conic sections rebellion" were waged, and 
the faculty won, though at the expense of the expulsion 
of forty sophomores. Among the new professors were 
Chauncey A. Goodrich, powerful in personality and persua- 
sive in speech, and Denison Olmsted, whose text-books on 
natural philosophy and astronomy were in the first class. 
The treasury, under the care of James Hillhouse, was wisely 
managed, and in 1831, a fund of one hundred thousand 
dollars was raised. In 1822, the Divinity School was es- 
tablished as a department, and it soon became a power 
under the sway of the profound and eloquent Nathanael W. 
Taylor, who, with such associates and successors as Eleazer 
T. Fitch, Josiah W. Gibbs, and Leonard Bacon, George 
P. Fisher, Timothy Dwight and Samuel Harris had a 





A< 



THe Colleges 237 

marked influence. The Law School, which as a private 
enterprise had existed for some time, became a part of the 
college in 1824, when David Daggett became Kent pro- 
fessor of law in the college. In 1833, the famous Litch- 
field Law School was discontinued, and its books and 
records were transferred to the school at Yale, which has 
flourished under such men as Woolsey and Baldwin. During 
those years, North College, the chapel, the cabinet, and 
treasury were built. 

In 1846, Theodore D wight Woolsey succeeded President 
Day, carrying to the college a broad and careful scholarship, 
enriched by studies in Europe. On becoming president he 
turned from Greek, of which he had been professor for 
fifteen years, to international law in which he became an 
authority. He was also an able administrator; the graduate 
department was strengthened; James Hadley brought high 
scholarship as linguist and philologist; Elias Loomis added 
his mathematical genius; James D. Dana made the college 
famous in geology; Hubert A. Newton was accomplished in 
meteoric astronomy; Thomas A. Thatcher was for over 
forty years an able teacher of Latin and molder of char- 
acter; in the year of Woolsey 's inauguration the library 
building, the first Gothic structure on the campus, was 
completed. Yale was continually broadening its course; 
in 1841, Edward E. Salisbury was appointed to the chair of 
Sanskrit and Arabic, and became the first in the line of 
great Oriental scholars who have given distinction to Yale. 
In 1854, William D. Whitney was made professor of San- 
skrit, and in 1869, he gave to comparative philology the 
weight of his rare scholarship. The founding of the Pea- 
body Museum, the Art School, and the Winchester Observa- 
tory strengthened the college. In 1866, Othniel C. Marsh 
took the chair of paleontology, amassed a treasure of 
fossils, conducted a series of expeditions to regions beyond 
the Missouri River, and brought back four hundred speci- 
mens of vertebrate fossils, new to science. Addison E. 



238 A. History of Connecticut 

Verrill was making a study of deep-sea life, bringing together 
two hundred thousand specimens. 

The Sheffield Scientific School was an expression of the 
inspiring personality of Benjamin Silliman. In 1846, his son 
of the same name and John P. Norton began a school in 
analytical chemistry and mineralogy, and soon the atten- 
tion of Joseph E. Sheffield, well known in railroad enter- 
prises, was called to the needs of the college in science, and 
he made such generous donations that in 1861, the school 
that bears his name came into existence. The director was 
George J. Brush, the mineralogist; later, Russell H. Chitten- 
den, eminent in physiological chemistry, gave increased 
power to the school, as director. In 1856, Samuel A. 
Johnson, the chemist, became professor at Yale, and a 
leader in the establishment of agricultural stations through 
the country. The versatile William A. Brewer and the 
gifted authority in early English, Thomas A. Lounsbury, 
and in 1871, Josiah Willard Gibbs gave the faculty still 
greater power. Professor Gibbs, son of a noted Yale pro- 
fessor, had the chair of metaphysical physics, and was 
one of the most profound mathematicians the world has 
ever seen. 

The coming of Noah Porter to the presidency in 1872, 
brought to the headship of the college an eminent teacher 
of mental science, and a conservative and kindly leader. 
In the same year, the government was popularized by 
bringing in the practice of electing six members of the 
corporation by the alumni instead of the legislature, at 
the same time the rising interest in athletics was marked by 
the introduction of football, and in 1877, Yale began her 
annual races at New London with Harvard. Two years 
later, the Intercollegiate Baseball Association was formed, 
and members of the class of 1881, secured the purchase of 
the Yale Field, and now arrangements are in progress for 
a stadium, to seat sixty thousand spectators. A system 
of electives came in about that time, and the Sloane physical 



TKe Colleges 239 

laboratory, Kent chemical laboratory and Lawrence Hall 
were given. 

In 1886, Professor Timothy Dwight, the wise and genial 
scholar, became president; electives were multiplied; the 
force of instructors increased; Dwight Hall, the center of 
the religious life of the college, was completed; there rose 
the walls of Osburn, Welch, White, Winchester, Vanderbilt, 
Phelps Memorial, Berkeley, and Pierson halls. Yale 
infirmary was given by women in New Haven and New 
York, and a gymnasium was built during President Dwight's 
administration, and Hendrie Hall was given to the Law 
School, though it was not completed until 1900. The School 
of Music became a definite department, and foundations were 
established for fellowships, scholarships, and prizes. The 
earliest permanent college magazine was the Yale Literary 
Magazine, which was established in 1856, and among its 
editors have been William M. Evarts, Donald G. Mitchell, 
D. C. Gilman, and Andrew D. White. 

Just before the Bicentennial in 1901, President Dwight 
gave place to Professor Arthur T. Hadley, an authority in 
railroad science. At that celebration, alumni and sister 
institutions paid their tribute of honor to the college; the 
pageant was brilliant; a Bicentennial Fund of two millions 
of dollars was raised, by means of which were erected the 
Administration Building, dedicated as Woodbridge Hall, 
the new dining-hall, called University Hall, and the Woolsey 
Auditorium, in which the family of John H. Newbury 
installed the Memorial Organ. The Fayerweather Hall 
and Lampson Lyceum were also erected in that period; 
Kirkland Hall increased the facilities of the Scientific School 
in mineralogy and geology; Byers Hall, the headquarters 
for the Sheffield Young Men's Christian Association, and 
Vanderbilt Hall for the same department were also built. 
In 1900, James W. Pinchot made possible the founding of 
the School of Forestry, which is becoming an important 
department of the university, whose students have increased 



240 -A. History of Connecticut 

to more than three thousand and the faculty to nearly four 
hundred. The forty theological books given by the ministers 
have multiplied to nearly four hundred thousand. The Art 
School has some valuable collections, — such as the Trum- 
bull gallery of fifty-four works of the patriot-painter. There 
is also the Jarves gallery of one hundred and twenty-two 
volumes of Italian paintings from the eleventh to the seven- 
teenth centuries, illustrating the development of art in the 
old painters. There is the Steinert collection of antique 
harpsichords, claviers, and spinnets, besides autograph 
letters of great musicians. In the Peabody Museum is 
a paleontological collection unsurpassed by that of any 
other college in America, and according to Huxley — in Eu- 
rope. It has a skeleton of the primitive dog, the only 
complete one in existence, and a slab containing the skeleton 
of a cretaceous dinosaur, nearly thirty feet long and thirteen 
feet high, besides the huge remains of the largest land animals 
known; one from New Zealand is seventy feet long and 
twenty feet high. The museum is rich in minerals and 
meteorites, including the famous mass weighing sixteen hun- 
dred and thirty-five pounds that fell in Texas. The names 
of Yale men eminent in law, medicine, theology, invention, 
missions, and statesmanship are legion. The name Yale 
University was authorized in 1887, and in its many depart- 
ments it is developing in power under the able presidency 
of Arthur T. Hadley. 

In tracing the history of Trinity College, we go back to 
the days when everything that was not Congregational was 
under the ban in Connecticut. Soon after the consecration 
of Bishop Seabury, steps were taken to organize a college 
under the care of the Episcopal Church, and at a convoca- 
tion at East Haddam a movement started toward the in- 
corporation, in 1 80 1, of the academy at Cheshire, which was 
sometimes called Seabury College. The legislature granted 
only limited powers to it. It was not to confer degrees, for 
in that case it might become a rival of Yale. Repeated 




The Right Reverend Samuel Seabury, D.D. (1729-1796). 
Bishop of Connecticut 

From an Old Copper Print 



The First 



The Colleges 241 

efforts were made in vain to secure an enlargement of the 
charter, until the adoption of the new state constitution in 
18 18, when, in connection with the consecration of Bishop 
Brownell, permission was granted to establish another col- 
lege in the state. A petition, signed by many citizens, was 
presented to the legislature on May 10, 1823; and soon 
afterwards an act incorporating Washington College was 
passed. Fifty thousand dollars was pledged within a year, 
and as Hartford subscribed three-fourths of this, it was 
chosen as the site. Bishop Brownell was elected presi- 
dent on May 16, 1824, and in the following month, Jarvis 
Hall and Seabury Hall were started. College opened in 
1824, with nine students, and on the faculty with Presi- 
dent Brownell were George W. Doane, Hector Humphrey, 
and Horatio Potter. Students were received for a par- 
tial course of two years, having in view an English di- 
ploma. The first commencement was held in August, 
1827, when ten graduates received the Bachelor degree. 
In 1 831, Nathanael S. Wheaton became president, and 
during the six years of his term, a foundation was laid for a 
system of endowment, placing the college on a firm financial 
basis. In 1837, Silas Totten became president, holding office 
for eleven years. In 1845, a second dormitory was built 
named Brownell Hall, and the same year the name of the col- 
lege was changed to Trinity. A board of fellows was organ- 
ized to superintend the course of study and the discipline. 
Alumni, not members of the corporation, were formed into 
a House of Convocation, a title which was changed in 1883, 
to the Association of the Alumni. In 1849, the charter was 
amended to make the Bishop of Connecticut chancellor 
of the college and president of the board of trustees. 
Bishop John Williams held the office for two years, until 
compelled by duties of his diocese to resign, and Daniel R. 
Goodwin was president until i860. Students increased; 
Hartford bought the college campus for six hundred 
thousand dollars for a site for the new capitol, and a tract 



242 .A. History of Connecticut 

of nearly eighty acres was secured a mile south. Thomas 
R. Pynchon became president in 1874, an( ^ m the following 
year, ground was broken for the new buildings, and in 1878, 
two large blocks were ready for occupancy. The erection 
of Northam Hall in 1881, completed the western range of 
the quadrangle — named after Charles H. Northam of 
Hartford, whose total gifts to the college were a quarter 
of a million of dollars. Under President Smith, the course 
of studies was enriched, Gymnasium, Alumni Hall, Labora- 
tory and Observatory erected. The college is advancing 
in efficiency and influence under President Flavel S. Luther, 
who was inaugurated in 1904. 

The incorporation of the third college in Connecticut 
met no sectarian opposition, and early in the nineteenth 
century, leaders in the Methodist Episcopal Church, feeling 
the need of a college in New England or New York, while 
looking for a suitable place were attracted to Middletown. 
In 1825, Captain Alden Partridge, a former superintendent 
of the Military Academy at West Point, opened in Mid- 
dletown the American Literary, Scientific, and Military 
Academy, and to encourage the school, the citizens built 
two substantial stone structures, but failure to secure a 
charter led to the removal of the school to Norwich, Ver- 
mont, in 1829. The vacant buildings attracted the attention 
of Laban Clark, presiding elder of the New Haven district, 
and he told the owners that he would be one of ten to buy 
the property. The New England Conference took the 
matter up and made the purchase for about thirty-three 
thousand dollars, on condition that it be used only for a 
college, and be endowed with at least forty thousand 
dollars. Trustees were chosen, and the college organized 
under the name of Wesleyan University, — the oldest in the 
country now existing, that was founded by and has remained 
under care of the Methodists. The first president was 
Wilbur Fisk, and in September, 1831, its doors were 
opened to students of both sexes. Wesleyan was among 



XKe Colleges 243 

the first to have a scientific course, and under the presidency 
of Augustus W. Smith, beginning in 1851, the raising of an 
endowment of one hundred thousand dollars assured the 
permanence of the college. In the presidency of Joseph 
Cummings, the first alumnus chosen to the office, Isaac 
Rich built a library to hold one hundred thousand volumes, 
and a large library fund was raised; the boarding hall was 
remodeled into an observatory hall, a memorial chapel, 
and the Orange Judd Hall of Natural Science constructed, 
the last at a cost of one hundred thousand dollars. In the 
presidency of Cyrus D. Foss, who followed Cummings, the 
debt was paid, and nearly a quarter of a million dollars added 
to the endowment. Of late, the gifts of George I. Seney, 
Daniel Ayres, and others have enlarged the scope of the 
college, built a fine gymnasium, and led to a large increase 
in students. It has been for years a growing conviction that 
the student body should be limited to men, and the last year 
in which women were graduated from the college was 1912. 
With grounds, buildings, and endowment aggregating in value 
two million dollars, an amount increased in 19 12, by a million 
dollars, Wesleyan takes a high place under the leadership of 
William A. Shanklin, who was inaugurated in 1909. 

There has been a conviction in many minds for years 
that there ought to be a college in Connecticut for women, 
and during the session of the legislature of 19 10- n, a charter 
was granted to establish such a college at New London, 
and a tract a mile long on the west side of the Thames has 
been secured, partly by purchase, and partly by gift of Mrs. 
Harriet U. Allyn of New London. The people of the city 
have taken up the matter of raising money for the college 
with enthusiasm, and already over one hundred and fifty 
thousand dollars has been raised there. In addition to 
this, Morton F. Plant of New London has given a million 
dollars for endowment. The date appointed for the opening 
is 1914, and under Dr. F. H. Sykes as president, the college 
will start under the happiest auspices. 



244 -A. History of Connecticut 

The Hartford Theological Seminary was founded as the 
result of a convention of thirty-six Congregational ministers 
held at East Windsor, September 10, 1833, for the purpose 
of devising means to counteract certain theological views 
prevailing in some quarters, views concerning depravity 
and regeneration, which seemed to those conservative men 
dangerous innovations. At that convention, the Pastoral 
Union of Connecticut was organized on the basis of a 
Calvinistic creed. The constitution adopted provided for 
the establishment of a Theological Seminary to guard 
against the perversion of consecrated funds. The control 
of the seminary was placed in the hands of a board of trus- 
tees accountable to the Pastoral Union. As a result, the 
Theological Institute of Connecticut was incorporated in 
May, 1834, an d opened in the following September at East 
Windsor with sixteen students. The early years were 
marked by financial straits, and after a score of years, so 
depressing was the situation that the trustees made over- 
tures to Yale to unite the two theological schools. There 
was substantial unity on both sides, but the men who rep- 
resented Yale asked for delay, and when the matter was 
taken up again there had come a change over the situation, 
because of large gifts to the East Windsor school, the 
largest being that of James B. Hosmer of Hartford, who 
founded a professorship, and gave one hundred thousand 
dollars to erect a building. In September, 1865, the semi- 
nary was transferred to Hartford, and for fourteen years 
was housed on Prospect Street, moving in 1879, to Broad 
Street, where, through the liberality of Newton Case, a 
library building was erected to hold two hundred thousand 
volumes, and the name was changed to Hartford Theological 
Seminary. The old-school war-horses of the faith, Bennet 
Tyler and William Thompson, have given place to men 
equally able: Chester A. Hartranft with his large vision 
and genius for administration and inspiration, and, since 
1903, William Douglas Mackenzie, a master of men and of 



THe Colleges 245 

ideas. Generous gifts of late have made possible enlarging 
the scope of the Hartford Seminary Foundation to include 
the Kennedy School of Missions and the School of Religious 
Pedagogy, with the outlook toward a university to meet the 
various needs of the churches, and a tract of thirty acres 
has been purchased in the western part of Hartford, to which 
it will move to enter its widening career. 

The Berkeley Divinity School began in a theological 
department informally organized in Trinity College in 185 1, 
by the president of the college, Rev. John Williams. Three 
years later, a charter was granted for the school as a separate 
institution to be located at Middletown, where a large 
building was given for its use, and Bishop Williams was 
dean of the school for forty-five years, until his death in 
1899. Generous provision has been made from time to 
time for a spacious library, enlargement of buildings, and an 
endowment of nearly half a million dollars. Five hundred 
men have graduated from the school and have taken holy 
orders. There were in 19 10, five full professors and several 
instructors and lecturers. 

The influence of Connecticut on colleges in other states 
has been effective. The founding of Dartmouth College 
can be traced to Eleazar Wheelock of Windham, who, while 
pastor at North Lebanon, now Columbia, established a 
school for Indians, which he transferred to Hanover, New 
Hampshire, where fifty-five of the sixty-eight shares in the 
town had been assigned to settlers from Windham, and of 
the two hundred and eighty-four graduates of Dartmouth 
to 1790, one hundred and twenty-one were from Connecticut. 
The founder of Hamilton College was Samuel Kirkland, 
who was born in Norwich in 1741; after graduating from 
Princeton, he became a missionary among the Indians, and 
during the Revolution was able to secure the neutrality of 
the Oneida Indians, and in 1793 he founded the college. 

Among the presidents of Marietta College has been 
Israel A. Andrews of Connecticut. The first president of 



246 .A. History of Connecticut 

Beloit College was Andrew Chapin, and the projector of the 
Western Reserve University was Caleb Pitkin, both from 
Connecticut. Illinois College owes much to this state, as 
T. J. Sturtevant was one of its founders, and Edward Beecher 
was its first president. The Johnsons, father and son, were 
influential in founding and shaping Columbia College, 
whose first president, William S. Johnson was born in Strat- 
ford in 1696, graduated at Yale, was member of the Stamp 
Act Congress, took an active part in the Revolution, be- 
came a member of the Continental Congress, member of 
the constitutional convention, and was one of the first sen- 
ators; Abraham Baldwin, born in Guilford in 1754, grad- 
uated from Yale, was chaplain in the Revolution, then went 
to Savannah, Georgia, where he entered the legislature and 
became delegate to the Continental Congress. He was sent 
to the constitutional convention, and afterwards to Congress. 
Baldwin secured a charter for the University of Georgia, 
gave forty thousand acres toward its endowment and was 
also its first president. Union University owes much to 
Eliphalet Knott, a native of Ashford, who conducted its 
affairs in its early years with great skill, raising large 
sums of money for it by lotteries. Another Connecticut 
man who gave distinction to the faculty of Union was 
Laurens P. Hickok, a native of Danbury, who was pro- 
fessor in Western Reserve and Auburn Seminary before 
becoming president of Union. Hickok's works on psy- 
chology and moral science are those of a profound thinker. 
John J. Owen, the Greek scholar, a native of Colebrook, 
was an eminent member of the faculty of the College of the 
City of New York. 

Amherst College owes much to Connecticut; President 
Heman Humphrey, who did so much to put it upon its feet, 
was born in West Simsbury, and graduated from Yale; 
Julius H. Seelye, long a professor of mental and moral 
philosophy and for fifteen years its president, was a native of 
Bethel, as was his brother L. Clark Seelye, for years pro- 



THe Colleges 247 

fessor of English literature, and for a quarter of a century the 
able president of Smith College. From this state have gone 
three presidents of Williams College: Ebenezer Fitch, from 
1793, when the college was chartered, — Fitch was born in 
Norwich, and was president fifteen years; EdwardS. Griffin, 
born in East Haddam, who gave the college efficient service, 
1821-26; and Franklin Carter, born in Waterbury, who was 
president, 1881-96. The famous Charles G. Finney was 
born in Warren, and was professor and president at Oberlin, 
1835-54. Jared Sparks, professor of history at Harvard and 
for four years its president, was born in Willington. Cyrus 
Northrop, born in Ridgefield, was professor at Yale for 
eleven years, and in 1881, became president of the Univer- 
sity of Minnesota. Daniel C. Gilman was born in Norwich, 
and after serving as professor in the Sheffield School, he 
became the first president of the University of California, 
and later of Johns Hopkins, which he did much to organize 
in 1875, holding office until 1902, when he became president 
of the Carnegie Institution in Washington. Among the 
one hundred and five college presidents furnished by Yale, 
eighteen have been the first presidents, and most of them 
natives of Connecticut. 

The founder of the first dental college in the world was 
Horace H. Hayden, born in Windsor in 1769, and his vers- 
atile mind found play as an architect, builder, army- 
surgeon, and geologist. He became interested in dentistry 
through John Greenwood, Washington's dentist. Hayden 
opened an office in Baltimore. In 1840, he called together 
a few leading dentists in New York, and the American 
Society of Dental Surgeons was organized, with Dr. Hay- 
den as its president until his death, four years later. The 
next step was the publishing of a journal, the American 
Journal of Medical Science. A college was opened in 
Baltimore in 1840, the College of Dental Surgery, with 
Hayden as its president, and professor of the principles and 
practice of dental surgery. In 1846, C. 0. Cone, born in 



248 A History of Connecticut 

East Haddam, was appointed professor of mechanical 
dentistry in the new college. Hartford has also the dis- 
tinction of being the birthplace of E. M. Gallaudet, son of 
the distinguished founder of the American School for the 
Deaf in Hartford. Dr. Gallaudet organized, in 1864, the 
College for the Deaf in Washington, D. C. This institu- 
tion, of which the founder was until recently president, is 
the only institution of its kind in the world of the grade of 
college. In view of these facts, nothing further need be 
said to establish the claim that Connecticut has been true 
to the purpose of its founders to establish a commonwealth 
of intelligence. 



CHAPTER XVIII 
DEVELOPMENT OF THE HIGHWAYS 

THE development of a state is marked not only by its 
courts, industries, and schools, but also by its high- 
ways, since the road is a type of civilization, a duct of trade, 
a symbol of culture and progress. At the start, there were 
in the wilderness only Indian paths — " trodden-paths, " 
they were called in the early court-records — narrow passages 
scarcely two feet wide, deepened by the Indian moccasins, 
the hobnailed shoes of the settlers, the tread of cattle, and 
the feet of horses, often with blazed trees as guide-posts, — 
later known as "bridle-paths. " For many years there were 
few horses in New England, and those that were owned 
there were too valuable on the farms to be spared for travel- 
ing. When Bradstreet was sent to Dover as Royal Com- 
missioner, he walked both ways in the Indian path. Streams 
were crossed on fallen trees, or at fords. There is one record 
of Governor Winthrop carried "pick-a-back" by a sturdy 
Indian guide. The Indians showed the English the two 
turnpike trails from Connecticut to Boston. 

The Old Connecticut Path started from Cambridge, and 
ran through Waltham, Framingham, Dudley, and Woodstock, 
through the " Wabbaquasset Country." The most famous 
of all the trails was the Bay Path, which passed through 
Marlborough to Worcester, then to Oxford, Charlton, and 
Brookfield (where turned off the Hadley Path), then south 
to Hartford. J. G. Holland wrote of these trails: 

249 



250 .A History of Connecticut 

No stream was bridged, no hill graded, no marsh drained. It 
was the channel through which laws were communicated, through 
which flowed news from distant friends, loving letters and mes- 
sages. That rough thread of soil was a trail that radiated at 
each terminus into a thousand fibres of love, and interest, and 
hope and memory. Every rod had been prayed over by friends 
on the journey and friends at home. 

Gradually the paths widened into roads, though for years 
the phrase was "the path to New Haven," "the path to 
Agawam, "and the first reference to a road appears to be in 
1638, when it was ordered that a road be made to Windsor, 
which is probably the oldest road in the state. There are 
records of appeals to the General Court for permission to lay 
out roads until all the towns were connected. In 1679, it 
was ordered that the roads from plantation to plantation be 
repaired, and that the inhabitants once a year should clear 
a roadway of a rod wide at least on " the country roads, or the 
king's highway." In 1684, the records say, "great neglect 
was fowned in mayntaining of the highways between towne 
and towne; the wayes being incumbered with dirty slowes, 
bushes, trees and stones. " It was at that time that William 
and Mary granted the colonies the right to have a postal 
system, and the first regular mounted post from New York 
to Boston started January 1, 1684. The first post road 
between those two cities passed through Providence, Ston- 
ington, and New London, and extended two hundred and 
fifty miles, following closely the old Pequot Path as far as 
Providence. In 1698, travelers and postmen complained 
that they "met great difficultie" in journeying, especially 
through Stonington, which "difficultie arises from want of 
stated highways, or want of clearing and repairing, and erect- 
ing and maintaining sufficient bridges, and marks for direc- 
tion of travellers, " and it was ordered by the legislature that 
these defects should be remedied, under penalty of a fine of 
ten pounds. A road was laid out, by order of the General 
Assembly before 1700, between New London and Norwich, 



NEW 




Development of tKe Highways 251 

passing through the Mohican fields, being surveyed by 
Joshua Raymond, who was paid with the gift of a fine farm 
upon the route. 

In 1704, Madame Knight went from Boston to New York 
on horseback, and her experiences with bad roads, miserable 
taverns or huts, where she stopped for the night, give us a dis- 
mal picture of the rudeness of the times. On October 2, 1 704, 
she wrote in her journal: "Began my journey from Boston 
to New Haven; being about two hundred mile." The 
food offered at the taverns was apt to be trying ; in one place 
the "cabage was of so deep a purple," she thought it had 
been "boiled in the dye-kettle." She speaks of a "cannoo" 
so small and shallow that she kept her "eyes stedy, not 
daring so much as to lodg my tongue a hair's breadth more 
on one side of my mouth than tother, nor so much as think 
of Lott's wife, for a wry thought would have oversett our 
wherey. " She wrote that after leaving New London, 

wee advanced on the town of Seabrook. The Rodes all along 
this way are very bad. Incumbered with Rocks and mountainos 
passages, which were very disagreeable to my tired carcass. In 
going over a Bridge, under which the River Run very swift, my 
hors stumbled, and very narrowly 'scaped falling over into the 
water; which extremely frightened me. But through God's 
goodness I met with no harm, and mounting agen, in about half 
a miles Rideing came to an ordinary, was well entertained by a 
woman of about seventy and advantage, but of as sound Intellec- 
tuals as one of seventeen. 

After crossing Saybrook ferry, she stopped at an inn to 
bait, and to dine, but the broiled mutton was so highly 
flavored that the only dinner received was through the 
sense of smell. After leaving Killingworth, she was told 
to ride a mile or two, and turn down a lane on the right 
hand. Not finding the lane, she continues, "We met a 
young fellow, and ask't him how farr it was to the lane, 
which turned down to Guilford. He said we must ride a 



252 A. History of Connecticut 

little further, and turn down by the corner of Uncle Sams 
Lott." She found the people possessed of as "large a por- 
tion of mother witt, and sometimes larger than those who 
have been brought up in Citties" but needing "benefitt both 
of education and conversation. " Making shrewd comments 
she reached Rye, and stopped at a tavern where she ordered 
a fricassee, but could not eat it ; she was then conducted to 
her bedroom, by way of a very narrow stairway. She says: 

arriving at my apartment, a little Lento Chamber furnisht among 
other Rubbish with a high Bed and a Low one, — Little Miss went 
to scratch up my Kennell, which Russelled as if she'd been in the 
Barn among the Husks, and suppose such was the contents of 
the tickin — nevertheless being exceedingly weary, down I lay 
my poor Carkes, and found my covering as scanty as my Bed was 
hard. Annon I heard another Russelling noise in the Room — 
called to know the matter, — Little Miss said she was making a 
bed for the men; who, when they were in Bed, complained their 
leggs lay out by reason of its shortness. My poor bones com- 
plained bitterly, not being used to such Lodgings ; and so did the 
man who was with us : and poor I made but one Grone, which was 
from the time I went to bed to the time I Riss, which was about 
three in the morning. Setting up by the Fire till Light. 

Through mud, forests, and all sorts of difficulties she made 
her journey to New York and home again in Boston, and 
after an absence of five months, she broke out into the 
following verse: 

Now I've returned to Sarah Knight's, 
Thro' many toils and many frights, 
Over great rocks and many stones, 
God has presarv'd from fractured bones. 

In 171 1, the General Assembly of Rhode Island voted that 
"a highway be laid out from Providence through Warwick 
and West Greenwich to Plainfield," and the following year 
the legislature of Connecticut voted that the selectmen of 



Development of tKe HigHways 253 

Plainfield lay out at once a road to make the connection 
eastward from the Quinnebaug River ; a part of the distance 
the road was four rods wide, and elsewhere eight rods. 
Highways improved slowly : at the opening of the eighteenth 
century there was no good road through Thompson, except 
mean gangways to Boston and Hartford, crooked paths, 
winding among "rocks, mountains and miry swamps, " which 
had been trodden out by the people, and made barely pas- 
sable. It was in 1732, that the first was reported in that 
section, and soon after that, references are found to roads " to 
the meeting-house" from the houses of "a considerable num- 
ber of the nabors"; and some of those "nabors" were com- 
pelled to pull down twelve pairs of bars before they reached 
the village. The layout of the early roads depended largely 
on the location of the houses, and since it was customary to 
build on the hilltops, perhaps as greater security against the 
Indians, the roads were as hilly as possible. The roads were 
also poor even in Hartford, where wheels sunk to the hub in 
the native clay of Pearl Street after the nineteenth century was 
well advanced. About the middle of the eighteenth century 
some effort was made to improve Main Street, but little was 
done then or for fifty years afterwards except to fill the worst 
holes and quagmires with stones. Benevolent farmers in 
Wethersfield, and no doubt in other towns, kept oxen yoked 
in "mud time" to relieve distressed teamsters, and there 
is a tradition that, near the opening of the nineteenth century, 
Mrs. Daniel Wads worth on Thanksgiving Day was unable 
to cross Main Street from her home near City Hall to 
Colonel Wadsworth's home on the Atheneum lot, except on 
horseback. In 1774, when the county jail was on Trumbull 
Street, the prisoners petitioned that the jail limits be ex- 
tended to the court-house on the east, that the charitable 
who might aid them could get to them, since "all the roads 
which lead to it (the Hartford jail) being for a considerable 
part of the year miry and uncomfortable to walk in. " 

Early in the eighteenth century horses were more numer- 



254 -A- History of Connecticut 

ous though the drain to the West Indies was heavy and con- 
stant. The Narragansett pacers were much bred, and highly 
esteemed; heavy draft horses were also imported, and from 
them sprang a race of powerful animals. Coaches were not 
common for years, though John Winthrop had one in 1685, 
and Andros in 1687. Roads were too poor for them outside 
of the towns, and the Puritan leaders lamented their coming 
as savoring of luxury and extravagance. A variety of 
carriages came into use as the roads improved, and wealth 
increased. There were the calash, a chaise with a folding 
top, the chaise with the fixed top, a two- wheeled gig with 
no top, the sulky for one traveler; these being hung on 
thorough-braces. There was also a four-wheeled carriage 
called a chariot. There is a reference in an inventory of 
1690, to a "sley,"and Bostonians had such vehicles for 
snow, though they were not common in Connecticut until 
a generation later. 

It was a little before the Revolution that the first chaise 
appeared in Norwich; owned by Samuel Brown, who was 
fined for driving in it to church, since the rolling of the 
wheels broke the solemn and holy stillness of the Sabbath. 
At the Revolution there were six chaises in Norwich; the 
most wonderful was that of General Jabez Huntington, the 
first in town with a top that could be thrown back, being a 
large, low, square-bodied affair, studded with brass nails. 
Another belonged to Dr. Daniel Lathrop, said to have been 
the first druggist in the state. This had a yellow body and 
large windows in the sides of the top. We find references 
to carriage- making in Windham Green in 1808, and in the 
following year a wagon owned by Roger Huntington of 
Windham was sent to Leicester for a load of machine cards, 
and there could not have been more curiosity manifested 
along the road if it had been a menagerie. At Woodstock 
a crowd gathered to examine the new vehicle that was to 
kill the horses. One man had seen such a thing in Hartford, 
"and the horse dragging it was fagged nearly to death." 




The Stage Coach America 

Drawn by Capt. Basil Hall, R. M., by means of a camera obscura 




Chaise belonging to Sheriff Ward of Worcester 

From a Photo, by H. C. Hammond 



Development of tKe HigHways 255 

On the return the next day with a load, Esquire McClellan 
and the others decided "that perhaps such wagons might 
come into use after all." 

Taverns came early, and under order of the General 
Court in 1644, they were established "not only in Hartford, 
but others in each town upon our river. " An old authority 
tells what a guest might expect: 

Clean sheets to lie in wherein no man had been lodged since they 
came from the landresse, and have a servante to kindle his fire 
and one to pull off his boots and make them clean, and have the 
hoste and hostess to visit him, and to eat with the hoste or at a 
common table if he pleases, or eat in his chamber, commanding 
what meate he will according to his appetite. Yea, the kitchen 
being open to him to order the meat to be dressed as he liketh 
it best. 

The landlord was not to allow a person to be intoxicated 
in his house, or to drink excessively, or to tipple after nine 
at night. Reference has been made in an earlier chapter to 
the tavern of Jeremy Adams on Main Street, Hartford, 
where the legislature held its meetings for nearly fifty years. 
Quite as famous was the Black Horse Tavern, which was 
built near the line of Main Street, not far from the Atheneum, 
and for half a century it was the most widely known of all the 
inns in the region. After a time the Bunch of Grapes Tavern 
of David Bull outstripped its neighbor in popularity. Many 
taverns were poor affairs, as Madame Knight discovered. 
From the first, they were closely connected with the church, 
and were licensed to promote public worship. It was usually 
next to the church, and such proximity was the single con- 
dition on which it was permitted to sell "beare. " There 
is a record of a permission granted to John Vyall in 1651, — 
"libertie to keep a house of Common Entertainment, if 
the County Court consent, provided he keepe it near the 
new meeting house," — convenient for worshipers and 
voters. Strict laws regulated taverns, and in New Haven 



256 -A. History of Connecticut 

twenty acres of land was set apart to pasture the horses of 
travelers in. 

Just before the Revolution, John Adams wrote of an En- 
field landlord as follows : ' ' Oated and drank tea at Peases — a 
smart house and landlord truly ; well-dressed with his ruffles 
&c. I found he was the great man of the town, representative 
as well as tavern-keeper ; retailers and taverners are generally 
in the country, assessors, select-men, representatives and 
esquires. " Notices of town meetings, elections, new laws, and 
ordinances of administration were posted in the taverns, where 
also could be found bills of sale, records of transfer, business 
exchanges, and daily gossip, — a local substitute for a daily 
paper. Distances were more apt to be reckoned from tavern 
to tavern than from town to town. Courts and town meet- 
ings were sometimes held there, as well as committee 
meetings and consultations of selectmen. Care was taken 
to clear the tavern when the time came for public worship in 
the bleak meeting-house, and citizens were frozen out of the 
one to be frozen within the sacred refrigerator. The Black 
Horse Tavern, which was built in 1732, by Samuel Flagg on 
Main Street, Hartford, nearly opposite the First Church 
in its present location, was for half a century the most widely 
known of all the inns for miles around, and later, the Bunch 
of Grapes Tavern of David Bull, standing near the corner 
of Asylum and Main streets, was more popular. 

Next in importance to the tavern was the stage-driver 
with his stage. As early as 171 7, the General Assembly 
voted to grant Captain John Munson of New Haven, to- 
gether with his executors, administrators, and assigns the sole 
and only privilege of transporting persons and goods between 
Hartford and New Haven for seven years. The only con- 
dition was that on the first Monday of every month, except 
December, January, February and March, he should, if the 
weather permitted, drive to Hartford and back again within 
the week. In winter there was no regular communication 
between the two cities by stage or boat. The most famous 



Development of tHe Hig'hways 257 

stage-driver in those days was Captain Levi Pease, who was 
born in Enfield in 1740, and on October 20, 1783, he started 
a stage-route from Boston to Hartford, leaving Boston at 
six in the morning, and a man named Sykes set out from 
Hartford, changing horses at Shrewsbury. Pease advertised 
to go in "two convenient wagons," but the tradition is that 
the "carriages were old and shackling," and the harnesses 
partly ropes. At ten at night the passengers put up at a 
tavern, and were called at three, or before, the next morning. 
If the roads were heavy with mud or snow, the passengers 
were expected to get out to lessen the load. The wagon of 
Pease's stage-route was at first almost empty, but a resolute 
man like him was undisturbed, and he started a movement 
for better roads, an effort which resulted in the first Massa- 
chusetts turnpike, which was laid out in 1808. Pease has 
been called the "Father of the American Turnpike." 
After a time there was the 

New Post-Coach Line Dispatch, in six hours from Hartford to 
New Haven, leaving Hartford every Tuesday, Thursday and 
Saturday at eleven in the forenoon, passing through Farmington, 
Southington and Cheshire, and reaching New Haven in time 
for the steamboat. . . . The above line of Post-Coaches 
are new and modern in style, horses selected with great care 
and are first rate, drivers that are experienced, careful and 
steady. 

The horses were usually tough and wiry, weighing about 
a thousand pounds. Stages became less rude and primitive 
as the turnpikes spread, and as the schedule time was ten 
miles an hour, a breakneck speed was required down hill 
to compensate for the slow up-hill progress. A frightened 
passenger, after a terrible jolting down the western slope of 
Talcott mountain, stuck his head out of the window, and 
beckoning to the driver said, "My friend, be you goin' 
down any further? Because if you air, I'm goin' to get out 
right here. I want to stay on the outside of the airth a 
17 



258 A. History of Connecticut 

leetle longer." Another traveler, who, to relieve the horses, 
had toiled on foot up a long hill in Barkhamsted, entered 
the tavern, and asked if the Lord was in. "For," he 
explained, "it seems to me that we 've come high enough to 
find Him." 

After a time the roads leading to the cities were used in 
the winter by farmers, who filled their two-horse pungs or 
one-horse pods with the products of toil and skill, and drove 
to market. They carried dressed pigs, a deer or two, fir- 
kins of butter, cheeses in casks, poultry, beans, peas, corn, 
skins of mink, fox and fisher-cat, birch-brooms the boys had 
made, stockings, mittens, and yarn. They carried their 
rations with them with feed for the horses; rye and injun, 
doughnuts, pies, cold roast sparerib, and inevitably some 
frozen bean porridge, and when the pung was crowded, the 
chunk of porridge was suspended by a string to the side of 
the sleigh; a hatchet was put in to chop off a dinner of 
this nourishing food, called by the Indian name of tuck-a- 
nuck or mitchin. On reaching the city the goods were 
disposed of and a less bulky load carried home ; a few yards 
of cotton cloth, spices, raisins, fish-hooks, powder, shot, a 
few pieces of English crockery, jackknives, and ribbons. 
Emigrant wagons were often seen on the roads, and the 
peddler, the commercial link between city and country, was 
welcome everywhere, as he carried tinware, dry goods, and a 
hundred notions. Many a pack peddler was seen, and as he 
plodded along the dusty road, he dreamed of the time when 
he should have a wagon, and of the still more distant day 
when he should own a permanent stand in the city, whence 
he would send out wagons in all directions. 

It was an important epoch in Connecticut history when 
the turnpikes came in, for then began some method in build- 
ing roads. There had been the trails and bridle-paths from 
scattered farms to one another and to the church, store, and 
mill, and there had also been communication between the 
towns by the country roads, which were sandy in summer and 




H 



H 




o 



>> 






Development of tHe Highways 259 

buried in snow in winter, and in the spring, when the frost 
was coming out, almost impassable. The story of the high- 
way to the Great Green Woods, as the north half of Litchfield 
County was called, illustrates the way roads were built. 
Dissatisfied with the rude bridle-paths, the inhabitants of 
Simsbury and Farmington joined the settlers of New Hart- 
ford in 1752, in a petition to the County Court for an order 
to open a road from Hartford to New Hartford. After the 
charter for the road was granted there came a war of words 
with emphatic language concerning the layout, and when 
the Old North Road was completed it was a wonder to the 
world that a direct route could be found through swamps and 
over steep hills, with all sorts of queer turns to keep it within 
the two-mile distance from a straight line, yet avoid rocks, 
and accommodate as many farmers as possible. Travel on 
the road was largely on horseback, and the wagons found a 
single roadway, with slight opportunity to turn out. In 
the Revolution, troops and munitions passed over that road, 
and detachments of Burgoyne's army marched there as 
prisoners of war. Iron was carried there on the way from 
Salisbury to Hartford; ship-builders found in the Litchfield 
forest lumber and masts; grist-mills were built on the 
streams, often with sawmills attached, and the road was 
convenient to some of these. It was over that road that 
Ethan Allen marched toward Ticonderoga; rugged men 
hastened over it toward Lexington and Bunker Hill. 

When the New London Turnpike Company was chartered 
in 1800, it was ordered that all were to be exempt from pay- 
ing toll who were going to attend worship, funerals, school, 
society, town or freemen's meetings, to do military duty, 
attend training, go to and from grist-mills, and attend to 
ordinary farm business. The towns on this forty-two-mile 
stretch from Hartford to New London were to build and 
maintain bridges over certain streams. The charter required 
four toll-gates on the road and the toll rate was as follows: 
four cents for a person and horse or for an empty one-horse 



260 -A. History of Connecticut 

cart ; six and a quarter cents for a one-horse pleasure sleigh, 
an empty two-horse cart, or a loaded one-horse cart ; twelve 
and a half cents for a chaise, sulky, or a two-horse loaded 
sleigh, also for a loaded cart, sled, sleigh, or wagon; twenty- 
five cents for a four-wheeled pleasure carriage or a stage- 
coach ; two cents for every horse, mule, or cow, and half a 
cent for every sheep or pig. It was not until 1857, that this 
road was wholly turned over to the towns through which it 
ran. Toll-gates were a favorite resort for the people who 
were eager to learn something of the doings of the great 
world. It was provided in some of the charters of the turn- 
pike companies that when the net earnings exceeded twelve 
per cent., the road reverted to the state. 

One of the problems of the highway was the crossing of 
rivers, and the earliest method was by fords and ferries. 
As early as 1681, Thomas Cad well of Hartford was licensed 
to 

Keepe the ferry for seven years with sufficient boats to carry 
over horses and men, and a canoe for a single person. . . . 
Fare for horse and man, 6d if not of this town. Fare for a man, 
2d if not of this town. Fare for a man, id in silver if of this 
town or 2d in other pay. Fare for horse and man, 3d in silver 
if of this town or 6d in other pay. And of those of this town 
whom he carry s over after the daylight is shutt in, they shall 
pay sixpence a horse and man in money or 8d in other pay. 
For a single person, 2d or 3d. 

In 1 69 1, complaint was made of the great disorder at the 
ferry on Sundays because of the many who were on their 
way to church, and three years later the difficulty was re- 
lieved when the people on the east side of the river obtained 
the "liberty of a minister among them." In 1712, the legis- 
lature granted Richard Keeney of Hartford liberty to keep a 
ferry near the bounds of Hartford and Wethersfield, and 
ten years later another ferry was established near the former. 
The old records contain many references to ferries at various 



Development of tKe HigH-ways 261 

points on the Connecticut and the other rivers, with a rigid 
fixing of rates. In 1745, the fares for the Hartford ferry 
were 9d for a man, horse, and load; for a man, 4d; for meat 
cattle, yd a head, and 2d for sheep. In 1758, Hartford voted 
that two boats be used at the ferry, and two years later, that 
one of the two ferrymen should live on the east side. 

As Hartford grew and its business increased, it became 
evident early in the nineteenth century that the ferry was 
insufficient, and on April 24, 18 10, a bridge across the Con- 
necticut was opened to the public. The construction of this 
bridge was pushed through by the Hartford Bridge Company, 
the president of which was John Morgan, and the cost of 
the bridge — ninety-six thousand dollars, was obtained by 
the sale of assessable shares. The toll was twelve and a 
half cents for a double team, sixteen cents for a barouche, 
twenty-five cents for a stage, and two cents for a foot pas- 
senger. This bridge was so seriously injured by the freshet 
of 1818, that the company vacated its charter, but was 
persuaded to go on under a more favorable charter and 
rebuild. The second bridge of 1818, was seriously injured 
in the great storm of January 23, 1839. The growing de- 
mands for a free bridge came to a climax in 1889, when the 
state paid the company forty per cent, of the cost of the 
old bridge, and Hartford, East Hartford, Glastonbury, 
Manchester, and South Windsor the remaining sixty per 
cent. The bridge was made free on September II, 1889, 
burned on May 17, 1895, and as the pine lumber sent 
out its blaze, twenty thousand people looked on. Work 
on a temporary structure began at once and a month later 
it was open to traffic, but before a year passed it was swept 
away. A second temporary bridge was opened on May 4, 1896, 
and that lasted until the present bridge was ready in 1907. 
The stone bridge was built under the auspices of a commis- 
sion appointed by the legislature soon after the burning of 
its predecessor. Its total length is twelve hundred feet 
lacking seven and a half, and it is said to be the largest 



262 A. History of Connecticut 

stone bridge in the world. It is of granite, and the stone 
came from Leete's Island and Stony Creek. There are nine 
spans, and the weight of the largest finished stone is forty- 
tons. The cost apportioned among the towns of the bridge 
district was one million six hundred thousand dollars. 

The present interest in good roads and promotion of them 
owe much to the invention of the Blake stone-breaker. 
This machine had its origin in the brain of Eli Whitney Blake 
of New Haven, a relative of Eli Whitney of cotton-gin fame. 
The Blake Stone-Breaker is ranked with the great labor- 
saving inventions of the world. Wherever railroads are 
to be ballasted, foundations of bridges or great buildings to 
be laid, and roads macadamized, the Blake Stone-Breaker 
is used. Blake was led to make the invention by seeing the 
need as he superintended the macadamizing of a street in 
New Haven. During the ten years between 1862, and 
1872, the direct saving, computed from the actual working 
records of the five hundred breakers then in use, was over 
fifty million dollars. Since that time the machine has found 
its way over the world. The systematic movement for good 
roads began in 1895, when the legislature appropriated 
seventy-five thousand dollars to be distributed throughout 
the state, with the conditions that the counties should fur- 
nish one-third and the towns another third. In 1897, one 
hundred thousand dollars was appropriated; in 1899, one 
hundred and seventy-five thousand; in 1 901, two hundred 
and twenty-five thousand; in 1903, the same; in 1907, three- 
quarters of a million, a third of which was for trunk lines, 
of which the longest is the road from Westerly to Port 
Chester — one hundred and twenty miles long. In 1812, 
there were three thousand miles of roads in the state, and in 
1913, fifteen thousand. Much attention has been given of 
late to a system of trunk lines, of which there are fourteen, 
gridironing the state, enabling the commissioner to superin- 
tend the outlay of appropriations with foresight and system. 
The General Assembly of 191 1, appropriated for two years 




The Connecticut River Bridge 




The Connecticut River Bridge 

The Original Bridge was Built 1809 and Carried away by Freshet in March, 1818. 

Rebuilt as Shown above in December, 1818. Became a Free Bridge 

September n, 1889. Destroyed by Fire May 17, 1895 



Development of tKe HigHways 263 

two million dollars for trunk lines, in one million of which 
the towns have a share, two hundred thousand for repairs, 
and twenty thousand for special post-roads. 

The coming of the automobile calls for better roads and 
furnishes more money to make and repair them, and now oil 
and tar harden and coat the surface of them that the swift 
tires may not destroy them. Multiplication of accidents 
at grade crossings, since touring cars raced over the state, 
has given an impetus to the movement to remove this fertile 
source of danger. It is a long cry from the Indian trails, 
the Bay Path, and the Old Connecticut Path to the Hartford 
and New Haven Turnpike, carefully graded and smooth as 
a floor, with its flying motor-cars from every state in the 
Union, suggesting the complex conditions into which the 
commonwealth has grown. 



CHAPTER XIX 
THE GREAT AWAKENING 

WE have sketched in an earlier chapter a decline in the 
religious life and in the morals of the people as the 
seventeenth century advanced. Quarrelsomeness, licen- 
tiousness, drunkenness, lying, and slander were widespread 
tokens of the decay of those principles of conduct for which 
the Puritans stood. The teachings of the pulpit had not 
changed, but formality was displacing earnestness and 
purity of life. In 17 14, the General Assembly passed resolu- 
tions, calling on the General Association of churches to 
inquire into the religious indifference, the profanity and 
immorality that threatened to ruin the land. The ministers 
reported in 171 5, that they had found a lack of Bibles in 
the homes, neglect of worship, catechizing and family gov- 
ernment; that irreligion, tale-bearing, defamation, cal- 
umny, contempt of law and intemperance abounded. 
The legislature then ordered all judges and justices of the 
peace to be diligent and strict to enforce all laws for the 
suppression and punishment of immorality and irreligion; 
that selectmen and constables were to see to it that children 
should be educated; that every householder was to obtain 
a Bible, if he had none, and that catechisms and other "good 
books of practical godliness be distributed." Officers were 
bidden to make diligent search for breaches of education, 
profanity, lying, and tippling at unlicensed houses. 

After making all needful allowance for exaggeration and 

264 



THe Great Awahening' 265 

extravagant language so common in those days, the condition 
of affairs evidently was gloomy, and this was not strange in 
view of the demoralizing influence of the wars, and the passing 
of many of the ablest and best men, but a change was coming ; 
the pendulum was about to make its return so familiar to the 
student of history. There was a deepening seriousness here 
and there; an effort to quench frivolity as in the solemn 
church trial in Columbia in 1738, when Timothy Hutchinson 
was required to make humble confession of sin for smiling 
in church. There were local alarms and some reforms in 
view of calamity, drought, harvest-failure, or excessive 
zeal of a devoted minister. There were endeavors here and 
there to maintain the strictness of the forms of a religious 
community. A story is told of Colonel Ethan Allen, that he 
was once on military service in Connecticut, when a little 
bushy-headed grand juror emerged from his cabin, and 
seizing the bridle-rein of the colonel's horse attempted to 
make an arrest. The colonel, sternly eyeing the dignitary 
of the law, drew his sword and flourishing it aloft, exclaimed, 
"You little woodchuck! Get back into your burrow, or 
I '11 cut your head off, " and Grand Juror Balcomb prudently 
retired. On the whole the intensity of the early fervor, the 
demand for rigid self-examination, the requirement that 
one should have in conversion an experience little short of the 
terrific, had passed into the chill and indifference of the Half- 
way Covenant period, and an eclipse of spiritual power and 
moral seriousness. To use an expression often on the lips 
of the anxious watchmen on the walls of Zion, the churches 
had little more than a "name to live." The law of 171 7, 
"for the better ordering and regulating parishes and societies," 
had made the minister the choice of the majority of the 
townsmen who were voters, thus reversing the early condi- 
tion, and merging the church into the town. There was 
another factor in the influences working toward a change, a 
serious commercial depression, due to years of floating and 
unstable currency. The currency of Connecticut had been 



266 A. History of Connecticut 

firmer than that of other colonies, but her paper money 
experiments from 17 14, to 1749, grew more and more demoral- 
izing: in 1740, she owed thirty-nine thousand pounds; 
taxation was heavy, wages low and prices high, and in the 
absence of the religious fervor of a century earlier, the people, 
though mainly descendants of the Puritans, now preeminently 
commercial in their interests, were discouraged and depressed. 
With the relaxing of the morals there was a tightening 
of the constraint of the law, and the Assembly, in 1723, 
ordered that there should be a penalty of twenty shillings 
for attending a preaching service conducted by an unordained 
minister, and the minister who preached without approval 
of the Congregational Church should be fined ten pounds and 
receive thirty stripes for every offense. In May, 1740, it was 
enacted that every minister, who went to a parish in the care 
of another minister, to preach or exhort, should be fined a 
hundred pounds, and if a stranger preached in a parish 
without the desire or license of the settled minister and the 
majority of the people, he should be sentenced as a vagrant. 
Such was the condition through New England when in the 
Northampton church, one of the most important churches 
of New England, Jonathan Edwards, son of Rev. Timothy 
Edwards of South Windsor, preached the sermons in Decem- 
ber, 1734, which started the Great Awakening. It was a 
movement which spread slowly through much of New Eng- 
land, the Jerseys, the backwoods of Pennsylvania, and the 
southern colonies. There was fever heat in Northampton, 
and Edwards preached in several Connecticut River towns, 
setting forth the terrors of God's anger, and the dangers of 
the impenitent ; the eternity of hell torments was described 
with all the genius of the most powerful intellect in America, 
and the greatest theologian this country has produced. His 
sermon in Enfield, July 7, 1741, is a fair sample of the severe 
side of the preaching of Edwards, Bellamy, and others of that 
time. This sermon is based on the text, "Their foot shall 
slide in due time." It contains the often-quoted descrip- 



THe Great Awahenin^ 267 

tion of God holding the sinner over hell forever as one holds 
a spider over the fire. Toward the close he said : 

If you cry to God to pity you, He will be so far from pitying you 
in your doleful case, or shewing you the least regard or favor, that 
instead of that, He will only tread you under foot, And though 
He will know that you cannot bear the weight of omnipotence 
treading upon you, yet He will not regard that, but He will crush 
you under His feet without mercy; He will crush out your blood, 
and make it fly, and it will be sprinkled on His garments, so as 
to stain all His raiment. He will not only hate you, but He will 
have you in the utmost contempt; no place will be thought fit 
for you, but under His feet to be trodden down as the mire of the 
streets. 

It must not be thought that this was the staple of the 
preaching, for Edwards said that he found no other discourses 
more effective than those on the divine sovereignty regard- 
ing salvation, prayer, and punishment; he also dwelt much 
on the all-sufficiency of Christ and the joy of a life of faith. 
The movement spread through Windsor, East Windsor, 
Coventry, Lebanon, Durham, Stratford, New Haven, Guil- 
ford, and Groton. Toward the end of 1735, it waned, to be re- 
newed five years later, when George Whitfield made a tour 
of the colonies, and was received with an ardor which often 
became frenzy. On his tour from Hartford to New Haven, 
he reached Middletown, October 23, 1740, and Nathan Cole 
of Kensington tells this graphic story of the day : 

Now it pleased god to send mr. whitfield into this land & my 
hearing of his preaching in Philadelphia like one of the old aposels, 
& many thousands flocking after him to hear ye gospel and great 
numbers were converted to Christ, i felt the spirit of god drawing 
me by conviction i longed to see & hear him & wished he would 
come this way and i soon heard he was come to new york & ye 
jases [Jerseys] & great multitudes flocking after him under great 
concern for their Soule and many converted wich brought on my 
concern more & more hoping soon to see him but next i herd he 



268 A History of Connecticut 

was on long iland & next at boston & next at northampton & 
then one morning all on a Suding about 8 or 9 o Clock there came 
a messenger & said mr. whitfeld preached at hartford & weathers- 
field yesterday & is to preach at middeltown this morning at 
10 o clock i was in my field at work i dropt my tool that i had in 
my hand & run home & run throu my house & bad my wife get 
ready quick to go and hear mr. whitfield preach at middeltown 
& run to my pasture for my hors with all my might fearing i 
should be too late to hear him i brought my hors home & soon 
mounted & took my wife up & went forward as fast as i thought 
ye hors could bear, & when my hors began to be out of breath 
i would get down & put my wife on ye saddel & bid her ride as 
fast as she could & not Stop or Slak for me except i bad her & so 
i woould run untill i was almost out of breth & then mount my 
hors again & so i did severel times to favour my hors we improved 
every moment to get along as if we was fleeing for our lives all this 
while fearing we should be too late to hear ye Sarmon for we had 
twelve miles to ride dubble in littel more than an hour & we went 
round by the upper housen & parish & when we came within 
about half a mile of ye road that comes down from hartford 
weathersfield & stepney to middeltown on high land i saw before 
me a cloud or fog rising i first thought of from ye great river but 
as i came nearer ye road i heard a noise something like a low 
rumbling thunder & i presently found it was ye rumbling of 
horses feet coming down ye road & this Cloud was a Cloud of dust 
made by the running of horses feet it arose some rods into ye air 
over the tops of ye hills and trees 8c when i came within about 
twenty rods of ye road i could see men and horses Sliping along in 
ye Cloud like shadows & when i came nearer it was like a stedy 
streem of horses & their riders scarcely a horse more then his 
length behind another all of a lather and some with swet ther 
breath rooling out of their noistrels in ye cloud of dust every jump 
every hors semed to go with all his might to carry his rider to 
hear ye news from heaven for ye saving of their Souls it made me 
trembel to see ye Sight how ye world was in a strugle i found a 
vacance between two horses to Slip in my hors & my wife said 
law our cloaths will be all spoiled see how they look for they was 
so covered with dust that thay looked allmost all of a coler coats 
& hats & shirts & horses We went down in ye Streem i hird no 




Laurel in Winchester. Laurel Is the State Flower 




Birthplace of Jonathan Edwards, South Windsor 



From a Photo 



THe Great Awakening 269 

man speak a word all ye way three mile but evry one presing 
forward in great hast & when we gat down to ye old meating 
house thare was a great multitude it was said to be 3 or 4000 of 
people asembled together we gat of from our horses & shook off 
ye dust & ye ministers was then coming to ye meating house i 
turned & looked toward ye great river & saw the fery boats run- 
ning swift forward & backward bringing over loads of people ye 
ores roed nimble & quick everything men horses & boats all seamed 
to be struglin for life ye land & ye banks over ye river lookt black 
with people & horses all along ye 12 miles i see no man at work 
in his field but all seamed to be gone — when i see mr. whitfield 
come up upon ye Scafhl he looked almost angellical a young slim 
slender youth before some thousands of people & with a bold 
undainted countenance & my hearing how god was with him 
everywhere as he came along it solumnized my mind & put me in 
a trembling fear before he began to preach for he looked as if 
he was Cloathed with authority from ye great god, & a sweet 
Solemnity sat upon his brow & my hearing him preach gave me 
a heart wound by gods blessing my old foundation was broken 
up & i saw that my righteousness would not save me then i was 
convinced of ye doctrine of Election & went rigt to quareling 
with god about it because all that i could do would not save me & 
he had decreed from Eternity who should be saved & who not i 
began to think i was not Elected & that god made some for 
heaven & me for hell & i thought god was not Just in so doing i 
thought i did not stand on even Ground with others if as i thought 
i was made to be damned my heart then rose against god exceed- 
igly for his making me for hell now this distress lasted almost 
two years. 

George Whitefield was twenty-six years old, and with his 
intense earnestness, marvelous voice, dramatic power and 
personal magic he could empty the pocket of the cool 
Franklin, hold spellbound the skeptical Hume, the scientific 
Franklin, and the brilliant Garrick, but he developed a fault- 
finding, censorious spirit, which found expression in drastic 
criticisms of ministers who did not agree with his methods, 
such as glorying in outcries, ecstasies, and swoonings. 



270 .A History of Connecticut 

Edwards records: "I thought Mr. Whitefield liked me not 
so well for my opposing those things." The sweeping 
temper of the zealous evangelist is suggested by the record 
he made in his journal at the close of his first New England 
tour, that "many, nay most that preach, do not experi- 
mentally know Christ. " He also went so far as to condemn 
the two colleges, Harvard and Yale, because they had held 
aloof from his frantic appeals to the nervous system as well 
as to the consciences of his hearers. Of these he said : "Their 
Light has become Darkness, Darkness that may be felt." 
These divisive utterances and this censorious spirit found 
vigorous echoes in men like Rev. Gilbert Tennent and Rev. 
James Davenport, who delighted in meetings thus described 
by Dr. Chauncy of Boston: 

The meeting was carried on with what appeared to me great 
Confusion; some screaming out in Distress and Anguish; 
some praying; others singing; some jumping up and down: 
others exhorting; some lying along on the floor, and others 
walking and talking: The whole with a very great noise, to be 
heard at a mile's distance, and continued almost the whole night. 

A town was thrown into consternation because two children 
of eleven and thirteen had a vision of the Book of Life in 
which the heavenly bookkeeper had left the Lebanon page 
blank paper. During this religious fervor and nerve excite- 
ment there were communities which gave themselves up to 
a kind of debauch of emotion, which was supposed to require 
three stages: a heart-rending misery over one's sinfulness, a 
complete willingness to be saved or lost as God wills, and 
ecstasy when one came to feel that he was one of God's 
elect. 

Before Whitefield's second tour, in 1744, a division had 
arisen among ministers and churches, the General Assembly 
had taken action to suppress irregular preaching, and several 
preachers were put into jail, while the wave of excitement 
subsided as rapidly as it rose. The results were varied: 



THe Great AwaKening' 271 

there was a deepening of religious thought in some minds; 
there was a revolt against conventional religion with many; 
a break in the Congregational or Established churches; a 
division into denominations; the passing of the Half-way- 
Covenant, and the springing up of the famous New England 
theology. An incident will illustrate the condition in 
many communities. In 1744, Ebenezer and John Cleveland 
of Canterbury, Yale students preparing for the ministry, 
while home on vacation attended meetings at which Separa- 
tist or unordained preachers addressed the fervent people, 
who found the Congregational churches chilly and forbid- 
ding; on returning to college they were summoned before 
President Clap and called to account. They admitted that 
they had gone to hear Solomon Paine "exercise his gift," 
as had a majority of the people of their town; they did not 
realize that it was a Separatist meeting, and did not suppose 
that they were violating a college law. The president told 
them that the law of God and of the college was one, and 
after a severe cross-questioning, a bill was read in the hall 
before faculty and students declaring that the two young 
men had violated the laws of God, the colony, and the college 
by attending a Separatist meeting, and that they were sus- 
pended from the college; on refusing to make a public 
confession of their sin they were expelled from college, and 
forbidden to enter any college room lest other students be 
infected with the poison. 

In many communities the Separatists built churches of 
their own; in Windham County there was one in nearly 
every town, and the preaching was Biblical and often 
powerful, but the revival spirit soon flagged, and through 
lack of education and the creation of sermons out of dreams 
and visions in contempt of scholarship, the preaching 
became thin. Enmities, fault-finding, and quarrels soon 
became as common among the New Lights as the Old. 
The leaders of the Old Lights criticized the New Lights for 
their irregularities and sensationalism, while the New Lights 



272 .A. History of Connecticut 

retorted with such terms as "Dead Dogs," "Lying Shep- 
herds," "Followers of the Beast and Dragon," and said 
that horrible damnation awaited those who were leading their 
flocks to hell. Tennent speaks of the regular ministers as 
"Hirelings, caterpillars, Pharisees, Seed of the Serpent, dead 
dogs. " The leaders of the Congregational churches had the 
power, and were willing to use it, to bring offenders against 
the established religion under the severities of the law. A 
poor man's meat and grain which he had laid up for his 
family for winter were seized to pay the salary of the minister, 
whose preaching he loathed, and the farmer was thrust into 
jail. Church quarrels blossomed; obstinacy, hard words 
and neighborhood strife were frequent; fifty families in 
Canterbury called their minister an unconverted man, and 
for meeting in a private house for worship were arrested, 
fined and imprisoned. Goods were often sold for half price 
to pay the taxes, and in one town where the New Lights got 
control of the town, the property of the aged Old Light 
minister was assessed at four times its value. One widow 
lady in Norwich was taken from her home on a dark night 
in October, 1752, at about nine o'clock, and carried to jail 
by the collector, and was kept there thirteen days, until her 
tax was paid, but without her consent, by her son-in-law, 
General Jabez Huntington. 

We have seen that, according to the Saybrook Platform 
of 1708, every one was taxed to support the Congregational 
church in the town where he lived, and in 1727, the General 
Assembly passed an act which cut the bond between church 
and town partly in two, permitting any society of the 
Church of England to form in a town, and excused its 
members from paying rates to the Congregational church. 
The old church was to be known as the "Prime Ancient 
Society," with a right to tax all who were not members of 
any church, and in 1729, the act of 1727, was extended to 
Quakers and Baptists. The new churches formed after the 
Great Awakening could not enjoy the privileges granted to 



THe Great Awakening 273 

Episcopalians, Quakers, and Baptists, for they claimed to be 
true Congregationalists, and in 1744, fourteen members of the 
Sayb rook Separatist church were arrested for "holding a meet- 
ing contrary to law on God's holy Sabbath day"; they were 
arraigned, fined, and driven through deep mud twenty-five 
miles on foot to New London, where they were thrust into 
prison for refusing to pay their fines, were left there with- 
out fire, food, or beds, and there they remained for many 
weeks, dependent on neighboring Baptists for bread. An 
incident connected with the church troubles at Ashford 
suggests the temper in some communities; the pastor, a 
Mr. Bass, was charged with lack of orthodoxy, and at his 
trial he was asked the question, "Sir, don't you think that a 
child brings sin enough into the world with it to damn it 
forever?" The minister replied that he did not, and that 
was enough to cut him off from his parish. 

In 1750, the revision of the laws, which had been under 
consideration for eight years by such able men as Roger 
Wolcott, Jonathan Trumbull, and Thomas Fitch, governors 
afterwards, and John Bulkley, Judge of the Superior Court, 
was completed. The omission of all persecuting acts from 
this revision was evidence that the worst features of the 
quarrel between the Old Lights and the New Lights were 
passing. But the Saybrook Platform continued in force, 
and there was no provision to exempt the Congregational 
Separatists from taxation to support the Established church. 
In 1753, more than twenty Separatist churches, representing 
a thousand members, united in an appeal to the Assembly, 
complaining of the distraining of goods for taxes for the 
Established churches, and of the danger to civil peace because 
of these evils, and when the Assembly refused redress, the 
petition, with authenticated records and the seal of Con- 
necticut, was sent to London, to the King's Most Excellency 
in Council. The English Committee of Dissenters feared 
that it might anger the king and endanger the charter. 
Meanwhile the Old Lights were slowly gaining common 
18 



274 -A- History of Connecticut 

sense: in 1755, President Clap established the college church 
at Yale; that powerful Old Light became a political New 
Light to get his students away from the controversies in 
the town church. It was getting a little late for Inquisition 
methods in Connecticut, and one church after another, on 
occasion of dispute with its minister, took the opportunity 
to repudiate the Saybrook Platform, and reassert the 
primitive freedom of the churches. This number increased 
until the General Assembly gave up the contest. About 
1 780, the original right of every church to govern itself came 
into play again, and the seventy years' captivity to the 
Presbyterian method came to a close. In 1791, all religious 
bodies were allowed the right of free incorporation; but 
persons unconnected with any church were still required to 
pay rates to the established Congregational organization, 
until the constitution of 18 18, made all such contributions 
voluntary. Near the close of the eighteenth century the 
custom of selling the pews to the highest bidder began; it 
was in 1791, that the first annual sale was held in Norwich. 
The custom also came in of buying pews to raise money 
to build meeting-houses. 

It is pure guesswork to attempt to give the number 
received into the churches in the Great Awakening of 1740- 
42; Dexter imagines forty or fifty thousand, other writers 
say ten thousand out of a population of three hundred thou- 
sand. Great preachers arose: the powerful theologians, 
such as the elder and younger Edwards, Emmons, Hopkins, 
Bellamy, West, and Dwight; New England theology had 
its birth; Baptist churches felt a powerful impetus; Episco- 
palians added many to their numbers; the Established 
churches were revitalized; a path blazed for a downfall 
of the Saybrook system and the separation of church and 
state in 18 18. In some ways the Great Awakening was, 
like the Crusades, a time of confusion, stirring sluggish minds 
and bringing in a new era. The means were drastic and 
many of the effects bitter and divisive, but on the whole it 



THe Great Awahenin^ 275 

was a genuine awakening, which led to larger toleration, a 
more genial and Scriptural theology, an interest in education, 
missions, and philanthropy, the passing of the parish despot- 
ism, and an uplift which promoted the Revolution. It is a 
significant fact that Samuel J. Mills, who is called the Father 
of Foreign Missions in America, was born in Torrington in 
1783, and before the century closed Connecticut was taking 
the lead of all other states in home missions. 

This is as good a place as any other to speak of the influ- 
ence of Connecticut in theology in America. It is scarcely 
too much to say that this commonwealth has produced more 
theologians than all the rest of the country. The two men 
who have been most influential are Edwards and Bushnell; 
the former was born in East Windsor, October 3, 1703, and 
the latter in Litchfield, April 14, 1802. Joseph Bellamy was 
born in New Cheshire in 17 19, was pastor at Bethlehem from 
1738, to 1790, and was teacher of sixty students in days 
before there were theological seminaries. Bellamy was op- 
posed to the Half-way Covenant, and he was the most power- 
ful preacher in the state. More powerful as a thinker was 
Samuel Hopkins, who was born in Waterbury, developed 
still further the Calvinism of Edwards, and was the first 
minister in New England to oppose slavery openly. Na- 
thanael Emmons was born in East Haddam in 1745; he was 
a pupil of John Smalley of New Britain, and trained a hun- 
dred young ministers, doing more than any one else to 
create the later Congregationalism. Steven West was born 
in Tolland in 1735, and was a profound scholar and thinker. 
John Smalley was born in Columbia, and in his pastorate of 
over fifty years in New Britain he stood opposed to the 
fanaticism of the Separatists and the worldliness of the 
Half-way Covenant. He trained many strong ministers 
for their pulpits, and had a marked influence on Oliver Ells- 
worth and Jeremiah Mason. Timothy Dwight, through 
his great sermons at New Haven, was the powerful leader 
out of the religious decline which threatened to over- 



276 .A History of Connecticut 

whelm the Connecticut churches. Dwight's work belongs 
to a later period, but he was one of the fruits of the Great 
Awakening, as were all the men just mentioned, except 
Edwards, the father of it. Jonathan Edwards, the younger, 
was pastor in New Haven for twenty-five years, and had a 
decided influence in forming the New England theology. 
It is not easy to characterize the theology of these sons of 
the Great Awakening; they were all decided Calvinists, 
modified according to their individual way of thinking, but 
they were men of power, and every one contributed to the 
development of the people in their ideas of personal liberty. 
The impression that the sermons were uniformly long and 
dry is an exaggeration, and there were men of originality 
and humor in the ministry, like Josiah Dwight of Woodstock, 
who said, "If unconverted men ever got to heaven, they 
would feel as uneasy as a shad up the crotch of a white oak. " 
There was some disagreement between this man and neigh- 
boring ministers, and when they met him in the interests of 
harmony, he prayed that they "might so hitch their horses 
together on earth that they should never kick in the stables 
of everlasting salvation." Keen wit, and sharp repartee 
characterized the conversation of many. 

The one-man rule in the local church is often referred to 
critically, and there was an occasional domineering of a 
local minister, but in the main it did little harm, for the 
laymen were independent in judgment and outspoken in 
speech, and the ministers feared their people quite as much as 
the people did the ministers. Neither side dared to go too 
far for the minister was supposed to be settled for life and 
to break off his pastorate midway would be regarded as little 
short of a disgrace, while the coming of a new minister "would 
involve the church in a heavy expense to buy a farm and 
build a house for settlement. As a rule ministers were close 
friends and faithful counselors of their people in all things; 
often arbiters in disputed rights; moral guardians and 
teachers of all. The people were interested to hear their 



THe Great Awakening' 277 

earnest and fervid ministers send bulletins heavenward on the 
life of the parish, sometimes making personal mention of the 
actors, recounting the questions at issue in the state, anathe- 
matizing the enemy, and acknowledging the sovereignty 
of God in the fall of a sparrow and the downfall of Charles I. 
Many of the ministers were strong, logical thinkers. It was 
a stiff proposition to claim, as Hopkins would do, that a 
man should be willing to be damned for the glory of God, 
but whoever did not believe it must stand ready to give the 
reason why. Steven West, preaching regularly to six judges 
of the courts, training in his study President Kirkland of 
Harvard and Samuel Spring, one of the founders of Andover 
Seminary and of the American Board of Foreign Missions, 
was not the only minister with an influence deep and wide. 
With all its evils, its bitterness and strife, its persecutions, and 
animosities, the Great Awakening must be considered as a 
most valuable and thorough experience in undermining the 
Saybrook Platform, demolishing the Half-way Covenant, 
stimulating the people to independent judgment, encourag- 
ing free speech, and in helping to bring the interests of church 
and state forward a little toward a condition in which liberty 
and common sense could have freer play. The results of 
agitation and evolution found expression in the "Laws and 
Acts of the State of Connecticut," appearing in 1784, in 
which there was no reference to the Saybrook Platform; all 
ecclesiastical laws were grouped under three heads entitled 
Rights of Conscience, Regulation of Societies, and Observance 
of the Sabbath. Whoever absented himself from public 
worship on the Lord's day for any trivial reason should pay a 
fine of three shillings or fifty cents. All religious bodies 
recognized by law were permitted to manage their temporal 
affairs as freely as the Establishment. While legislation 
favored the Establishment, toleration was extended more 
freely. Strangers and minors could choose their church 
home, but all must choose. Thus the Saybrook Platform 
disappeared from the statute book; oppression ceased; the 



278 .A History of Connecticut 

smaller sects that appeared after 1770, were not persecuted. 
The Sandemanians came in about 1766; the Shakers were 
permitted to form a settlement at Enfield in 1780; the 
Universalists began making converts among the Separatist 
churches of Norwich as early as 1772; in 1784, there was 
organized at New London the first Seventh-day Baptist 
Church in Connecticut. We have to wait until after 18 18, 
before we find the riper fruits of the Great Awakening, but 
with all drawbacks it must be regarded as a stimulating and 
valuable experience. 



CHAPTER XX 
THE REVOLUTION 

OUR study of the settlement and early history of Con- 
necticut makes it easy to imagine the part it took in 
the struggle with England for freedom. The preparation, 
in the quality and training of the people, as well as in 
the institutions established, was singularly valuable. Many 
of the population of nearly two hundred thousand whites 
had been trained to caution, energy, self-restraint, initiative, 
and independent judgment by the French and Indian wars; 
by parrying with English kings, by a long succession of able 
and patriotic governors, by constant alertness to hold their 
own with her neighbors, and by a charter which was an ideal 
for all the other colonies. Then too, an efficient local self- 
government and commercial prosperity had given strength 
and confidence to the naturally self-reliant citizens, equipping 
them for an intelligent and powerful stand for what they 
believed was right. 

When the news of the proposed Stamp Act arrived in 
1763, the General Assembly appointed, in a secret and careful 
manner, three of its ablest disputants to argue in its favor, 
and three equally able to argue against it, that it might hold 
well-balanced convictions. One of the earliest resolves of 
that session was the appointment of a strong committee to 
assist Governor Fitch to set in order the objections to the Act. 
Jared Ingersoll, one of this committee, was commissioned to 
confer with Richard Jackson, agent of the colony in England, 

279 



280 j\ History of Connecticut 

on the subject; it is reported that George Grenville praised 
the tone in which the Connecticut "Reasons" were written 
and admitted that the arguments were the best that he had 
seen, though fallacious. The measure passed the House 
of Commons March 22, 1765, and soon afterwards Governor 
Fitch called his council together to take an oath to cause 
"all and every one of the clauses [of the Act] to be punctually 
and bona fide observed," according to the requirements of 
the Stamp Act. There was a heated debate, and when the 
time-limit for the oath came, and it was proposed to admin- 
ister it, Jonathan Trumbull, Eliphalet Dyer, Hezekiah 
Huntington, Elisha Sheldon, Matthew Griswold, Shubal 
Conant, and Jabez Huntington indignantly withdrew, refus- 
ing to witness a ceremony, which, as Dyer insisted, was 
"contrary to the oath the governor and council had before 
taken to maintain the rights and liberties of the people." 
The oath was administered in the presence of a minority of 
four of the council. The political future of Governor Fitch 
was sealed, and after three years of Governor William 
Pitkin, Jonathan Trumbull, the famous War Governor 
held the office until 1 784. The temper of Governor Trum- 
bull is seen from the following sentences from a broadside 
he issued as the mouthpiece of the Assembly, June 18, 1776, 
to be published in the churches, appealing to the "virtue and 
public spirit of the good people of this colony": 

Affairs are hastening fast to a crisis, and the approaching 
campaign will in all probability determine forever the fate of 
America. Be exhorted to rise therefore to superior exertions on 
this great occasion ; and let all that are able and necessary shew 
themselves ready in behalf of their injured and oppressed 
country, and come forth to the help of the Lord against the 
mighty, and convince the unrelenting tyrant of Great Britain 
that they are resolved to be free. 

Jonathan Trumbull was the head of a popular movement, 
and a trusted friend of Washington who, in dark days of the 




Jonathan Trumbull (1710-85) 

From a Painting by George F. Wright in Memorial Hall, Connecticut, State Library 



THe Revolution 281 

war, when the army was in serious need of supplies, was wont 
to say, "We'll see what Brother Jonathan can do for us." 
The ministers were preaching against the Act; volunteer 
organizations, calling themselves "Sons of Liberty," were 
patrolling the country, when Ingersoll returned with a com- 
mission as stamp-master. On reaching New Haven he 
found the people in a ferment. On September 17,1 765, he was 
requested by vote of the town meeting to resign his office at 
once. Ingersoll told the people that he would apply to the 
General Assembly for confirmation in his office, and set out 
for Hartford. Before reaching Wethersfleld, he was met by 
an escort of the Sons of Liberty who attended him to the old 
Broad Street Green, where he was surrounded by a con- 
tingent of five hundred mounted men, under the command of 
Major John Durkee of Norwich, in the absence of Colonel 
Israel Putnam, disabled by an accident. Ingersoll was forced 
to sign a paper resigning his office, to give three cheers 
for Liberty and Property, and he was then escorted to the 
Assembly Hall in Hartford, where he read his resignation in 
public. Ingersoll rode a white horse, and when asked how 
he felt riding from Wethersfleld to Hartford, he said he 
never before understood the meaning of the verse in the 
Revelation, which speaks of "death on a pale horse, with all 
hell following." 

In 1774, Roger Sherman of New Haven, Silas Deane of 
Wethersfleld, and Eliphalet Dyer of Windham were appointed 
delegates to the Continental Congress, and the towns, after 
the Connecticut fashion of little commonwealths, took action : 
condemned the ministry; appointed committees of safety; 
appropriated money to buy arms and powder, and after 
the Stamp Act was repealed in 1766, and the Boston Port 
Bill was enacted, sent large supplies to the needy people there. 
The gift of Norwich was much applauded, as it consisted of 
money, grain, and a flock of three hundred and ninety sheep. 
The records of the votes of the Assembly show a keen interest 
in the appointment of officers for the train-bands of 



282 .A. History of Connecticut 

committees of correspondence with other colonies, and direc- 
tions regarding attendance at the drills of military companies. 
There was no regular uniform for the militia then, nor for 
years, rifle frocks and trousers being much worn. Among 
the words of command in training, before and after the 
command to "Poise arms," were "Put your right hand 
to the firelock" — "Put your left hand to the firelock." 
An odd kind of aspirate was sometimes used in com- 
mand, thus: "Shoulder! hoo!" No other colony had a 
more complete military organization, and the marshaling 
of militia was made as thorough as possible. It was voted 
that the governor be captain-general, the deputy governor 
lieutenant-general, that all military companies should be 
formed into regiments, and in every regiment there should 
be colonel, lieutenant-colonel, and major, appointed by 
the General Assembly. All men from sixteen to sixty, ex- 
cept those exempted by law, were to bear arms, and muster 
in thirteen regiments. To every regiment there was to 
be one troop of horse, and an inspection of the army on the 
first Monday in May, besides several training days. In the 
autumn of 1776, there were six brigades, with their generals, 
and two major-generals, who had power to call forth the 
militia ; the number subject to military duty was twenty-six 
thousand. 

The charter of Charles II. gave such union and harmony; 
the people in the towns were so thoroughly trained in govern- 
ing themselves; the governor was in such complete sym- 
pathy with the plans of the insurgents in the other colonies, 
that there was no delay in Connecticut, but prompt, con- 
siderate and determined action. Moreover, this colony was 
well off ; its forests had poured forth their wealth ; its valleys 
had produced liberally; its commerce was extensive; its 
towns were growing richer. It was called the "provision 
colony," and its manufactures were multiplying. It sent 
two hundred sail to the West Indies, and there were three 
men in Hartford who were worth sixteen thousand pounds 



THe Revolution 283 

apiece. The people were vehement republicans ; the Boston 
Port Bill was burnt with great contempt by the public 
hangman. Six months before the Lexington fight, General 
Gage seized a powder-house near Beacon Hill; the news 
spread through the colony calling the people to arms in 
defense of Boston, and before it could be countermanded, 
thousands were on the road. On September 15, 1774, a 
meeting, which has been called the first "Hartford Conven- 
tion" was held, in which strong resolutions were passed on 
non-consumption and monopoly. Sons of Liberty had their 
contingents in every town, and Liberty Poles were erected; 
one in Haddam was nearly one hundred and fifty feet high 
bearing a union flag with the emblem of Liberty fighting 
the cause of America against tyranny. The General Assem- 
bly, which met in New Haven in 1774, was patriotic and 
determined ; six months later it voted to raise six regiments 
for special defense, authorized the purchase of three thou- 
sand stands of arms, issued bills of credit to the amount 
of fifty thousand pounds, and laid a tax of seven pence. 
The anniversary of the Boston Port Bill was celebrated 
in some towns with ringing of bells, the closing of shops, 
and decorations of black. After the affair at Lexington, 
the Second Company of the Governor's Foot Guard was 
the first to reach Cambridge; soldiers hastened from all 
parts of the colony, until some four thousand had gathered ; 
at a special session of the General Assembly, summoned 
by Governor Trumbull, a committee was appointed to 
wait on General Gage with a letter from the governor, 
and six regiments were ordered to mobilize. The first mili- 
tary success was the capture of Ticonderoga. Learn- 
ing of the possibility of success in an attack upon that 
important fort on the highway to Canada, April 28, 1775, a 
self-constituted "committee" composed of Silas Deane, 
Samuel Wyllys, S. H. Parsons, Christopher Lefringwell, 
Thomas Mumford, and Adam Babcock, signed notes on 
the treasury for money to send Colonel Ethan Allen 



284 A History of Connecticut 

with his Green Mountain Boys to the first conquest of the 
Revolution. 

The leading military man in the colony was Israel Putnam 
of Pomfret, who had achieved a reputation in previous wars 
for nerve and courage. The first message from the governor 
to Putnam found him ploughing, according to the testimony 
of his son, an eye-witness, though Bancroft says he was build- 
ing a stone wall. He rode his horse to Boston, reaching the 
town in time for the council of war, April 19, 1775. He was 
followed by volunteers from Connecticut, who had seen 
service in French and Indian wars. Putnam was commis- 
sioned major-general and two other officers from the colony 
were made brigadier-generals. The General Assembly 
provided for the emission of one hundred thousand pounds 
in bills of credit, to pay for the equipment of eight 
regiments of militia. An evidence of the forethought of 
Trumbull and the other leaders of Connecticut was, that 
when the battle of Bunker Hill was fought, and the ammuni- 
tion in the hands of the Americans consisted of only sixty- 
three half-barrels of powder, thirty-six was a present from 
the colony of Connecticut. The Council of Safety, which 
voted this supply, had been appointed in May, 1775, to 
"assist His Honor the Governor when the Assembly is not 
sitting. " This Council was maintained throughout the war, 
and in the " War-office " at Lebanon (now restored), eleven 
hundred meetings of this Council were held during the 
Revolution. No other colony deserves more credit than 
Connecticut for efficiency in meeting situations which tested 
wisdom and pocket-book through the struggle. In that 
terrible winter at Valley Forge, when death by starvation and 
freezing faced the army, the urgent letters of Washington 
to Trumbull, stating that the army must disband, if relief 
did not arrive speedily, led the Council of Safety to place in 
the hands of Colonel Henry Champion and Peter Colt two 
hundred thousand dollars for the purchase of live beef, to 
send to the army. Those droves, with the exception of one 




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THe Revolution 285 

hundred and fifty head of cattle, which fell into the hands of 
the enemy, were safely delivered in midwinter to the army, 
having been driven some three hundred miles under the 
personal direction of Colonel Champion and his son Epaph- 
roditus. The first installment of cattle was devoured by 
the soldiers in five days. Thus Jonathan Trumbull, sea- 
soned by more than forty years of public life, vindicated 
his right to the title, " The presiding genius of Connecticut 
during the American conflict." 

In common with the soldiers of the other colonies, accus- 
tomed to Indian warfare, and unused to military discipline, 
the campaigns were somewhat irregular until Baron Steuben, 
whose commission was insisted on by Silas Deane, the Con- 
necticut agent in Paris, introduced the tactics of Frederick 
the Great, taught the use of bayonets, improved the military 
staff, and practically organized the army. The first cavalry 
regiment in the war was formed in Litchfield County by 
Colonel Elisha Sheldon of Salisbury. When Putnam wrote 
Governor Trumbull that six thousand men were expected 
from Connecticut, that number was speedily mobilized. 
General Putnam's services at Boston were important, super- 
intending fortifications, keeping the men busy in many ways, 
because, as his son says, "experience had taught him that 
raw and undisciplined troops must be employed in some way 
or other, or they would soon become vicious and unmanage- 
able. " At the Council of Safety and Council of War, 
Putnam, Prescott, and Palmer urged the fortifying of Bunker 
Hill, though Ward and Warren opposed, but the rail and 
stone barricade, hastily put up, played a valuable part in the 
battle and the retreat. The question, who commanded in 
the battle, has been much discussed, and perhaps the best 
answer is that in that early stage of the struggle every man 
did the best he could. Prescott commanded at the redoubt, 
and Putnam, the ranking officer on the field, withdrew his 
men with their intrenching tools from Prescott, and planned 
to throw up earthworks on the higher eminence, now known 



286 .A. History of Connecticut 

as Bunker Hill, and toward the end of the retreat he assumed 
a general command, and directed the fortifying of Prospect 
Hill. Fearless and vigorous, Putnam was eager to be where 
he was most needed; now riding at breakneck speed to 
Cambridge for reinforcements ; now giving his famous order, 
"Wait till you see the whites of their eyes before you fire"; 
at last vainly attempting to rally the forces for a final stand. 
The only soldiers at Bunker Hill, except those of Massa- 
chusetts and New Hampshire, were from Connecticut, and 
at the siege of Boston, Connecticut had twenty-three hundred 
of the sixteen thousand soldiers. 

A record in the handwriting of Governor Trumbull states 
that it was voted by the Council on June 7, 1775, to send 
fifty barrels of one hundred and eight pounds each, "on 
application from the General Committee of Safety and Sup- 
plies for Massachusetts, and on desire of Brigadier General 
Putnam ... on the present emergency for use of the 
camp at Cambridge and Roxbury. " Putnam was no poli- 
tician, and there was some opposition to commissioning him 
by the Continental Congress in preference to Wooster, but 
no one could question his ability as a fighter. Silas Deane, 
one of the Connecticut members in Congress : liked Putnam's 
bluff, hearty ways; writing to his wife, July 20, Deane said: 

He is the toast of the army ; I am glad the good and virtuous of 
Connecticut are willing to stand by the resolutions of Con- 
gress in the appointment of General Putnam. He does not 
wear a large wig, nor screw his countenance into a form that 
belies the sentiments of his generous soul; he is no adept either 
at politics or religious canting and cozening : he is no shake-hand 
body : he therefore is totally unfit for everything but fighting. 

In the campaign of 1776, Connecticut was first to rally 
in New York. The force was met on the borders of the 
colony by the timid and vacillating Committee of Safety, 
but the orders of Washington had the right of way, and 
Connecticut troops were the first to plant the standard of 





Israel Putnam's Plow 




The Putnam Wolf Den, Pomfret, Conn. 



THe Revolution 287 

independence in New York, under command of Putnam. 
That position they maintained until Washington arrived in 
April. At the beginning of the preparations on Long Island, 
Washington had twenty -five thousand men, the largest 
army at any one time during the Revolution, and of this 
Connecticut furnished one-third. All but two of the Con- 
necticut regiments were in New York in that campaign. 
Connecticut was in a critical situation during much of the 
war, between two large British armies at Newport and 
New York, with a strong fleet of the enemy on the Sound. 
It was a time of hardship; the men were generally in the 
army; women, old men, and boys tilled the fields as best they 
could. 

In November, 1775, a committee of Congress, composed 
of Franklin, Jay, Morris, Dickinson, and Harrison, selected 
Silas Deane of Wethersfield to go to Paris and secure 
military supplies of all kinds, of which the army was in 
great need, as there were few cannon, little powder and shot, 
and the guns made by the village blacksmiths were scanty. 
When Deane reached France, July 6, 1776, he found every- 
thing arranged by Vergennes, the French minister of foreign 
affairs, and though England and France were at peace, the 
ingenious and devoted Beaumarchais and the efficient and 
tireless Deane solved the problem of transferring the indis- 
pensable clothing, cannon, mortars, muskets, powder, shot, 
and tents to America; only half of one cargo of the eight 
shiploads embarked failed of reaching Portsmouth, N. H. 
When Burgoyne surrendered at Saratoga, in the decisive 
victory of 1777, a victory which led the doubtful French to 
make treaties of friendship and commerce with the revolting 
colonies on the following February, the army, at whose 
feet the British regulars laid down their arms, was clothed, 
armed, and furnished with artillery sent over by Silas Deane. 

When Stonington was attacked by the British, those left 
at home made a resolute defense; when Tryon marched on 
New Haven, the citizens, even to Daggett, the minister and 



288 A. History of Connecticut 

college president, rallied with their muskets. The zeal and 
patriotism of the people found efficient expression in the 
action of the General Assembly, the tireless watchfulness of 
the Council of Safety and the matchless Governor Trumbull. 
The correspondence between Washington and Trumbull was 
of a mutually trustful nature throughout the struggle, and so 
sagacious was the governor that we find Washington writing 
to Trumbull: 

I have full confidence in your most ready assistance on every 
occasion, and that such measures as appear to you most likely 
to advance the public good, in this and every instance will be 
most cheerfully adopted. ... I have nothing to suggest 
for the consideration of your Assembly ; I am confident that they 
will not be wanting in their exertions for supporting the just and 
constitutional rights of the colonies. 

The women vied with the men in patriotic devotion. When 
Shubael Dimmock of Mansfield reached home in winter and 
in rags, for a short furlough, and there was no cloth in the 
house, there was a web of warp drawn into the loom, and an 
old black sheep that was nibbling around the dooryard was 
caught, sheared, bundled down cellar in a blanket, and 
in forty-eight hours Dimmock was on his way to the army 
with a new suit of clothes, since mother, wife, sisters, and 
neighbors worked with swift hands. In the fearful winter of 
1777-78, Governor Trumbull and J. L. Hazard of Rhode 
Island stumped the counties of Washington and New London 
urging the women to ' ' commence making yarn and knitting 
stockings for the suffering army," and thousands of cart- 
ridges were made by the Plainfield women. There was a 
widow in Thompson who brewed a barrel of beer every day 
of one summer to stand by her door to refresh wayworn 
soldiers. Hardship was experienced among the people by 
lack of salt and molasses. When a vessel laden with mo- 
lasses and belonging to a Tory reached Stonington in 1776, 
it was seized by some men from Norwich, and with the 




Nathan Hale, a Bronze Statue in the Connecticut State Capitol 

From a Photo by Randall & Blackmore 



THe Revolution 289 

approval of the legislature, it was doled out for the neediest 
uses, including forty hogsheads to be distilled for the use 
of the soldiers. 

Among the Connecticut martyrs to the cause was 
Thomas Knowlton, who commanded two hundred men at the 
famous rail breastwork at Bunker Hill, who after the Long 
Island defeat led a small body of picked men, known as 
Knowlton 's Rangers; in his company of one hundred and 
twenty men were such officers as Nathan Hale of Coventry, 
Stephen Brown of Woodstock, Thomas Grovesner of Pom- 
fret, and Thomas U. Fosdick of New London. In the 
engagement of September 16, 1776, the Rangers did much 
to turn the tide of battle, but with the sad result of the death 
of Colonel Knowlton, who was mentioned in the general 
orders of the following day as "the gallant and brave Col. 
Knowlton, who would have been an honor to any country. " 
As he was carried from the field, he said, "I do not value my 
life, if we do but get the day." Gasping in the agony of 
death, his only anxiety was to drive the enemy, and he said 
to his son, "You can do me no good, go, fight for your 
country." While Knowlton was leading the Rangers, one 
of the noblest of the band, Nathan Hale, was engaged in a 
service equally dangerous. It was impossible for Washing- 
ton to secure information of vital importance to him after the 
battle of Long Island, without sending a spy within the 
enemies' lines. As soon as Hale, a young graduate of Yale 
of the class of 1773, heard of the service needed, he volun- 
teered to fulfill the perilous task. Disguised as a school- 
master, he crossed the lines, gained the knowledge, and was 
arrested while awaiting the boat by which he was to return. 
His words as he paid the penalty of his devotion, September 
22, 1776, can never weaken: "I only regret that I have but 
one life to give for my country." 

A foil to such men as these is the career of Benedict 
Arnold, brilliant, gallant, resourceful, and in the end igno- 
minious. Born in Norwich in 1741, he led the brave, but ill- 



290 -A. History of Connecticut 

fated expedition to Quebec, fought an obstinate naval battle 
off Plattsburg, chased Tryon from Danbury, fought bravely 
at Saratoga, married a loyalist, and while in command in 
Philadelphia had trouble with the city government, which 
brought charges against him, some of which were false and 
the rest frivolous ; was acquitted ; was eulogized by Washing- 
ton, who offered him the highest position in the army next 
to himself; stooped to the basest treason, was used by the 
British to lead the meanest of all expeditions, and at the 
end shortly before his death, on June 14, 1801, is said to 
have put on his old uniform, asking God to forgive him for 
wearing another. A few weeks before the fall of Cornwallis, 
on September 6, 1781, Benedict Arnold led the most atro- 
cious attack of the war, assaulting New London and Groton, 
towns but thirteen miles from his birthplace. Two small 
forts, Trumbull and Griswold, had been hastily built, and 
both were under the command of Colonel William Ledyard. 
The attack was a surprise, Fort Trumbull was taken with a 
rush and Ledyard gathered his men in Fort Griswold. After 
Arnold had burned the town and the shipping, he stormed 
Fort Griswold, which was bravely defended. When at last 
Ledyard surrendered, the sword he gave up was plunged into 
his own breast, and many of his men butchered in cold blood. 
Colonel William Ledyard will always be remembered as an 
intrepid soldier, who with one hundred and fifty farmers 
bravely resisted eight hundred veterans of the British army, 
until the invaders poured in from two opposite sides of the 
fort. In 1777, Tryon, the royalist governor of New York, 
with a force of two thousand men and twenty-five vessels, 
landed at Saugatuck, marched to Danbury, April 26, de- 
stroyed the stores gathered there and a large part of the 
town, but carefully spared Tory property. There were some 
Continental soldiers in the neighborhood, and the two 
generals, Wooster and Arnold. The latter rallied all the 
regulars and militia available, and headed off Tryon on his 
retreat, at Ridgefield. Wooster was mortally wounded in the 




The Groton Monument Commemorating the Battle of September 6, 1781 

From a Photograph 



THe Revolution 291 

battle, and Arnold pursued the British to their ships. In 
retaliation, Colonel Meigs crossed the Sound from New Haven 
in whaleboats to Sag Harbor, attacked the place near mid- 
night, burned twelve vessels and many stores, and returned 
with ninety prisoners. The invasions of Tryon, whose 
fleet had lingered threateningly along the coast, brought 
much suffering to Connecticut in 1779. On July 3, as the 
people of New Haven were preparing to celebrate the Declar- 
ation of Independence, the town was thrown into alarm by 
the news that Tryon 's fleet of forty-eight sail had dropped 
anchor at West Haven, and three thousand men were on the 
march for the city. They advanced in two detachments, 
one marching from West Haven, the other capturing a small 
fort at Black Rock, then meeting the first contingent on the 
common at one o'clock. The town was plundered until 
the next morning, and acts of cruelty and destruction of 
property are described in the traditions. On July 8, Tryon 
destroyed Fairfield, also Green's Farms. Norwalk was the 
next to go up in flames; and at the next landing, so many 
resolute men met him that he retired. His loss of three 
hundred men in the plundering expeditions was a severe 
punishment, and the injury inflicted on Connecticut was less. 
We cannot say much about the share of Connecticut in 
the navy of the Revolution, though Silas Deane, while in 
Congress, did all he could toward obtaining vessels, a work 
which he continued when in Paris, for which he has been 
called The Father of the American Navy. Privateers were 
fitted out in the colony, and the captures by Connecticut 
ships in 1777, amounted to two hundred thousand pounds. 
The Connecticut navy was a motley fleet, from whale- 
boats to frigates, and there was difficulty in securing arma- 
ment, though early in the war the iron-works of Benjamin 
Williams and Ebenezer Backus in their foundry at Salisbury, 
making cannon and balls, and James Tilley manufacturing 
cordage, met the need in part. In 1777, two frigates were 
built in Connecticut for the war, the Trumbull and the 



292 .A. History of Connecticut 

Confederacy. Admiral George F. Emmons compiled a list 
of the privateers fitted out in the state, and he made a total 
of two hundred vessels, carrying sixteen hundred guns and 
nearly eight thousand men, though it is impossible to be 
accurate, as names and descriptions of the ships are so 
confused. Many captures were made by the privateers, 
and the influence of these vessels on the British fleet cruising 
through the Sound was valuable. We have also to mention 
that the first marine torpedo known in naval warfare was a 
product of the ingenuity of David Bushnell of Saybrook; it 
was called the "American turtle." It was successful in 
creating consternation and several deaths on the deck of the 
British Cerberus, and the flagship of Lord Howe, the Eagle, 
barely escaped destruction from one of these dangerous 
turtles, near New York. 

On May 22, 1781, Washington, Rochambeau, Knox, 
Duportail, and Chastellux were holding a military conference 
at the Webb House in Wethersfield, at which plans were made 
which led to the surrender at Yorktown of the army of 
Cornwallis. Negotiations for surrender began on October 
17, the fourth anniversary of the surrender of Burgoyne; 
on October 19, 1781, General Lincoln received the sword 
of Lord Cornwallis, and the war was over. There are 
various estimates of the number of men furnished by Con- 
necticut for the war, but it could not have fallen much short 
of forty thousand. In his general orders of June 16, 1782, 
Washington mentioned two states as specially worthy of 
praise, one of them being Connecticut, of which he said that 
its troop was "composed of as fine a body of men as were 
in the army." In May, 1776, Connecticut was formally 
released from allegiance to the crown ; and in October, the 
General Assembly passed an act assuming the functions of a 
state. In the first section of the act it was enacted, 

That the ancient form of civil government, contained in the 
charter from Charles the Second, King of England, and adopted 




Hospitality Hall," Wethersfield. The Webb House where 
Washington and Rochambeau were entertained at 
their first meeting in 1781 




From the Connecticut River Wethersfield is a view of delight; 
her Christopher Wren spire nestles among the trees, and 
the white stones of the old burying-ground, like a flock of 
sheep on the hillside, appear quite English and pastoral 



THe Revolution 293 

by the people of this State, under the sole authority of the people 
thereof, [be] independent of any King or Prince whatever. And 
that this Republic is, and shall forever be and remain, a free, 
sovereign, and independent State, by the name of the State of 
Connecticut. 



This act implies that the people had always believed that 
their charter derived its validity, not from the will of the 
crown, but from the consent of the people. The insistence 
on state sovereignty was modified later. The changes 
wrought by the Revolution are suggested by the fact that 
after the October session of the General Assembly of 1775, 
its acts were no longer styled "Acts of His Majesty's Eng- 
lish Colony of Connecticut." 

We find a place in this chapter to speak of the Loyalists or 
Tories, — Grumbletonians, as they were sometimes called in 
those strenuous times. It is not strange there should have 
been conservative men, who naturally shrank from the con- 
fusion and threatening anarchy attending the insurgents in 
the experiment of self-government, and laid excessive stress 
upon the fact that America belonged to England. It would 
perhaps be too strong a statement to say with the bitter 
critic, Samuel Peters, that the "multitude considered the 
General Assembly to be equal to the British Parliament," 
but the experience of nearly a century and a half of self- 
government as an independent republic had fostered a 
condition, which President D wight in his Travels describes 
thus: "In no state of the world was an individual of more 
importance as a man than in Connecticut. Such a degree 
of freedom was never before united with such a degree of 
stability." In the upheaval which tried men's souls to 
the utmost, it would be remarkable if good judgment and 
self-control should prevail in every case, for the seventy- 
two townships were little republics with three thousand 
town officials, who had taken oath to do their duty con- 
formably with the constitution and laws. A sharp watch 



294 A History of Connecticut 

was kept over every one; as early as 1702, an act was 
passed which ordered town clerks to keep a list of all the 
freemen in the town, at every meeting to call the roll, 
and absentees were to pay a fine of two shillings. In this 
situation and with such training, it is not strange that in 
moments of excitement some people went to extremes, as in 
Windham, when two men, known as Peter's Spies, who had 
been arrested for carrying treacherous correspondence, were 
forced to run the gauntlet between two rows of women and 
children armed with switches and broomsticks. In Sims- 
bury, a Tory was shot for being beyond his premises after 
being warned, and in Hartford another was shot after a 
similar warning. It is not known what proportion of the 
people in the colonies were Tories; John Adams put the 
proportion at about one-third, and another estimate is that 
of the twenty-five thousand males between sixteen and fifty 
in Connecticut in 1774, about two thousand were in the class 
of Loyalists. Connecticut had a larger share than the other 
New England colonies, and they were mostly in Fairfield 
County. Considering that the twenty Episcopal ministers 
in the colony received an annual stipend from the English 
Missionary Society, it is not strange that some of them should 
have thought that the policy of the colonies was unwise 
if not unjust, and destined to defeat, as well as do injury 
to their churches. Some of them called it an unnatural 
rebellion, and when the patriotic spirit ran high in 1774, 
the Sons of Liberty organized, Tories were treated as 
social outlaws, and some towns passed resolutions of grief 
and detestation. It soon appeared that more radical 
measures must be taken, and in all parts of the state 
committees of inspection were appointed, consisting of from 
fifteen to thirty men in each town — vigilance committees, 
to search into the actions and disposition of every one in 
the community. On finding a Loyalist they forbade him 
to leave his farm, and published in one or more of the 
four newspapers of the colony his name on the first page 



THe Revolution 295 

under the heading: "persons held up to view as enemies 

OF THEIR COUNTRY." 

In 1775, Congress advised the arrest of every one who 
might endanger the safety of the colony, or the liberty of 
America. Washington felt strongly on the subject, and 
said to Governor Trumbull, "Seize the Tories that are active; 
they are preying on the vitals of the country, and will do alt 
the mischief in their power." In December, 1775, the 
General Assembly passed an act which ordered that all who 
actively aided the enemy with supplies or information should 
forfeit their estate and be imprisoned for a term, not to 
exceed three years ; that those who defamed Congress or the 
Assembly should be disfranchised, keep no arms, and if 
thought wise, be imprisoned or fined ; and that those reported 
"inimical" were to be disarmed. 

Early in 1776, Congress urged the "most speedy and 
effectual measures to frustrate the mischievous machinations, 
and restrain the wicked practices of these men," and the 
governor and council took action accordingly ; a few months 
after the Declaration of Independence, the General Assembly 
ordered that any Loyalist who should aid the enemy should 
be sentenced to death for treason, and that any one who 
should have knowledge of such action and should conceal the 
fact, should be fined, and imprisoned not more than three 
years. Informers multiplied, especially in the shore-towns, 
and the Assembly ordered that no one leave the state in a 
boat without a written license from a selectman. In 1777, 
an act passed the Assembly to forbid any one passing from 
town to town (except well-known friendly people and military 
men) without a written permit signed by some authority 
of town or army. At the same session, an act passed the 
Assembly enjoining an "Oath of Fidelity," and whoever 
neglected to take this could not hold any office or transfer 
real estate. Tory prisoners were in nearly every jail, and at 
Newgate prison, among the thirty or forty Loyalist prisoners 
there were Governor Franklin of New Jersey, Mayor Mat- 



296 -A. History of Connecticut 

thews of New York and Dr. Benjamin Church of Watertown, 
Mass., for the story of Connecticut vigilance went abroad. 
In the summer of 1777, Tories began to repent in large 
numbers, as a result of an act of the Assembly, proclaiming 
pardon to all who were convinced of their error and were 
ready to return to duty, and before the close of the war, 
hundreds took the freeman's oath, and received their estates 
back again. In 1779, the Assembly passed another liberal 
act, inviting "absconding Tories to return." The action of 
Connecticut, while firm and positive toward men who were 
not in sympathy with the insurgents, was not revengeful, and 
both Assembly and towns were ready to pardon the penitent. 
The part taken by the state from the wise, prompt, and large- 
minded governor to the private in the ranks and the faithful 
women on the farms was patriotic and effective. 



CHAPTER XXI 

CONNECTICUT AND THE CONSTITUTION OF THE 
UNITED STATES 

SO much has been claimed for the influence of this state 
at the convention which shaped the Federal Constitu- 
tion, and the part taken there by three of her ablest men 
expressed so effectively some of the mature fruits of her 
history from the beginning, that no apology is needed for 
this chapter. The government by Confederation proved a 
failure. Not until March, 1781, were the Articles of Con- 
federation finally ratified by the insurgent states, and in 
their working they had three fatal weaknesses: no power to 
tax, no control of commerce, and no power to arrest and 
punish criminals. In the words of Jay, "They might declare 
everything, and do nothing." At first, in stress of war, 
ability and interest marked Congress, but representation 
was bad; each state could send from two to seven delegates, 
but there was no thought of population; Virginia with her 
seven hundred thousand inhabitants could command no 
more votes than Rhode Island with one-tenth as many. Then, 
too, attendance fell off rapidly after the war; there were 
seldom more than twenty-five present at a time; Washing- 
ton's resignation was received by twenty members from 
seven states: twenty- three voted on the treaty. Quarrels 
and litigations over boundaries, jealousy, emphasis on state 
rights, heavy debts, debased currency, and prostrate com- 
merce created a serious situation, and the decision to hold a 

297 



298 .A. History of Connecticut 

convention at Philadelphia on May 14, 1787, was welcomed 
by thoughtful men as offering a possible escape from the 
difficulties, and likely to open an avenue into prosperity. 

We have no record of any controversy as to the men who 
should represent Connecticut on that momentous occasion; 
there were three lawyers in the state, whose ability, experi- 
ence, and good judgment placed them among the controlling 
forces of a convention that was presided over by Washing- 
ton, and had in its membership Franklin, Hamilton, and 
Madison. The oldest of these three was Roger Sherman 
of New Haven, who was a member of the Continental 
Congress from the beginning, and was one of the committee 
which drafted the Declaration of Independence and the 
Articles of Confederation. He was a shoemaker by trade, 
and losing his father at twenty, he supported his mother 
and several younger children, educated himself, and became a 
solid student in history, mathematics, science, and law. In 
1745, he had become surveyor of the county, and was an 
owner of real estate. In 1754, ne was admitted to the bar, 
and began the practice of law. At the age of thirty-eight he 
was made judge, and two years later, he moved from New 
Milford to New Haven. Sherman was deeply interested 
from an early age in the political situation, and as member 
of the legislature, he was in training for larger responsibili- 
ties. He was exceeded in age in the convention only by 
Franklin; he had not the slightest trace of eloquence, ex- 
cept that of rugged intelligence, wide knowledge, and solid 
common sense. 

Another of the Connecticut delegation was Oliver Ellsworth 
of Windsor, well-trained, substantial, profound and experi- 
enced, he added calm wisdom to the convention, and after- 
wards was chosen to be chief justice of the state and of the 
United States. The third delegate was William Samuel 
Johnson, who was born in Stratford, educated at Yale, became 
judge of the Superior Court, and was member of Congress 
from 1784-87. He was eminent as scholar and lawyer, and 





Roger Sherman (1721-1793) 
Judge of Superior Court, Senator, Mayor of New Haven. He 
was the only signer in the thirteen colonies of the four fundamen- 
tal documents of the government: Articles of Association in 
1774, Declaration of Independence in 1776, Articles of Confedera- 
tion in 1777 and Federal Constitution in 1787. 



Connecticut and tHe Federal Constitution 299 

was one of the few Americans whose learning had gained rec- 
ognition abroad, for Oxford made him doctor of Civil Laws, 
and the Royal Society had called him to its membership. 
These three men went to the convention representing 
different shades of opinion, but in perfect harmony with one 
another in their desire to give expression to the system of 
government, which had been carefully wrought out in 
Connecticut, whose governor and council, because of the 
singular liberality of the charter, were chosen by majority 
vote and by almost universal suffrage. Connecticut had 
also been careful to maintain the substantial equality of the 
new towns in at least one branch of the legislature ; her dele- 
gates were consequently in sympathy with the idea of the 
equality of the states in one branch of Congress. The 
combination of commonwealth and town rights had worked 
together so harmoniously in Connecticut that her represen- 
tatives in the convention were prepared to suggest a similar 
combination of national and state rights as the foundation 
of the new government. For a century and a half, the 
judicious mixture of national and federal elements, which 
are now united in the National Government, were tried out 
in a rudimentary way in the little commonwealth of Con- 
necticut, whose delegates went to the convention rich with 
the fruitage of the statesmanship of Ludlow, Hooker, and 
Haynes. 

Three views concerning the states prevailed in the con- 
vention: the first, that they were sovereign and independent, 
and should be allowed to resume at any time the complete 
control of their interests. This view was widely held, and 
it was generally felt that the union under the Articles of 
Confederation was secured by a yielding of something to the 
general government, whereas the states were never sovereign, 
and as colonies had been united through the crown. The 
second view was: that the events of the past twelve years 
had practically established a nation; this was the high 
Federalist view set forth by Jay, Webster, Story, and Curtis. 



300 A. History of Connecticut 

The third view lay between the other two, and was well 
expressed by Elbridge Gerry, who said: "We are neither 
the same nation, nor different nations." This middle view 
held that the states were free political agents, and also were 
in such relations with one another that they must form a 
union of a national character. 

Two plans came to the front early in the convention — 
the Virginia Plan, presented by Randolph of Virginia, who 
outlined a National Constitution for the United States of 
America; the chief author of this plan was Madison. It 
struck at the root of the weakness of the Articles of Con- 
federation, and proposed a strong and self-sufficient govern- 
ment by establishing two branches of the national legislature. 
The first was to be elected by the people, and its membership 
to be apportioned to each state according to its quota 
of contribution, or to the number of free inhabitants; the 
second was to be elected by the first. Each branch was 
to have the right of originating acts, and to the national 
legislature were delegated the rights vested in Congress by 
the Articles of Confederation. It was to legislate on all 
cases to which the separate states were incompetent, or in 
which the harmony of the United States might be disturbed 
by individual legislation. It was to have power to negative 
all laws passed by the several states contravening the 
Articles of Union, and to call out the national army against 
any state failing to fulfil its duties. A national executive 
was to be elected by the legislature, to be ineligible for a 
second term. There was to be a council of revision, con- 
sisting of members of the national judiciary, to have a veto 
over any act of the national legislature. The legislative, 
executive, and judiciary powers of the state were required 
to take oath to support the articles of the Union. These 
resolutions were at once considered in the committee of the 
whole, where the general idea of a strong and self-sufficient 
government was adopted by a narrow majority. 

On June 4, a question came up which nearly wrecked the 



Connecticut and tHe Federal Constitution 301 

convention . This was the question as to how the states should 
be represented in the new Congress. On the Virginia Plan, 
the smaller states would be practically powerless. Then 
Patterson of New Jersey presented a series of resolutions 
unfolding the Jersey Plan, providing for the establishment 
of a federal, instead of a national government, continuing 
the Articles of Confederation, with the power of coercing 
insubordinate states. This was a scheme to insure the 
safety of the small states against the large ones. This plan 
favored only one branch of the national legislature, whose 
power was to be derived from the states. Instead of one 
executive head it favored more than one. This became 
known as the State Sovereignty Plan. The discussion be- 
came heated; the situation dangerous. "The convention," 
Martin said, "was on the verge of dissolution, scarce held 
together by the strength of a hair." William Patterson of 
New Jersey argued the case of the small states with decided 
skill, insisting that if proportional representation prevailed, 
the small states would practically have no representation. 
On Monday, June 11, Roger Sherman proposed a compro- 
mise, suggesting that there should be proportional representa- 
tion in the first branch, and that in the second branch every 
state should have one vote. This proposal embodied the 
famous Connecticut compromise, but it attracted little 
attention at first, as s the delegates from the large states were 
still intent on proportional representation in both houses. 
On June 1 1 , it was voted that the representation in the first 
branch should be in proportion to the number of the free 
inhabitants, plus ' ' three-fifths of all other persons. ' ' Sherman 
immediately attempted to introduce the Connecticut com- 
promise by moving that every state should have one vote 
in the second branch. This was promptly defeated by the 
large states. On June 14, Patterson proposed the New 
Jersey plan of a loose confederation, instead of a strong 
national government proposed by Randolph. Patterson's 
plan was based on the states, as Randolph's was based on 



302 A History of Connecticut 

the people. After a discussion of four days, the New Jersey 
plan was rejected, and eight days later, the question of equal 
or proportionate representation was reopened, and was 
discussed until June 29, when Johnson of Connecticut urged 
that "in one branch the people ought to be represented, 
in the other the states." This compromise again fell on 
unfriendly ears, and when the vote was taken, the small 
states found themselves in a minority of four to six. 

At this point Ellsworth advanced the plan of the com- 
promise, moving that "the rule of suffrage in the second 
branch be the same as that established by the Articles of 
Confederation," which would imply equal representation 
of the states in the second branch. Ellsworth made a 
strong plea for compromise, urging that both the large and 
small states should listen, as Connecticut "held a middle 
rank." But the time was not yet ripe, and an angry debate 
continued for three days. Franklin urged the compromise, 
using the famous illustration, "When a broad table is to be 
made, and the edges of the planks do not fit, the artist takes 
a little from both that he may make a good joint." The 
fever of debate rose, and Ellsworth's compromise was lost 
by a tie vote, the larger states voting solidly against it. It 
was the most critical hour of the convention. "No compro- 
mise for us," said Luther Martin of Maryland, "you must 
give each state an equal suffrage, or our business is at an 
end." "Then we are come to a full stop," said Roger 
Sherman. "I suppose it was never meant that we should 
break up without doing something." Then Pinckney moved 
that a committee from each state be appointed "to devise 
and report some compromise, " and the convention adjourned 
from July 2 to 5. On the morning of July 5, Gerry made 
a compromise report, that was favorable to the smaller 
states; providing that there should be one representative 
to every forty thousand inhabitants, and that every state 
should have at least one representative, regardless of popula- 
tion. It was also provided that money bills should originate 



Connecticut and tKe Federal Constitution 303 

in the lower branch — a concession to the larger states. The 
report also recommended that in the second branch each 
state should have "an equal vote." In the discussion that 
followed for eleven days, the larger states opposed the report ; 
Ellsworth, who had been the Connecticut member of the 
committee, spoke for it ; Gerry and Mason thought it better 
than anarchy. Then Pinckney of South Carolina moved a 
number according to population for the senate, but Sherman 
was firm for an equality, and after long and hot discussion 
Pinckney's motion was lost by a vote of six to four. On 
Monday, July 16, it was voted that there be an equality 
of representation in the second branch. It appears from 
this rapid review that the "Connecticut Compromise,", 
introduced and wisely and steadily supported by Sherman, 
Ellsworth, and Johnson, was indispensable to the success 
of the convention. 

In a speech in the Senate, February 12, 1847, John C. 
Calhoun described the struggle between the two opposing 
forces in the convention : one seeking a national government ; 
the other a confederacy of states : after speaking of the great 
services of Madison, he said : 

It is owing mainly to the states of Connecticut and New Jersey 
that we have a Federal instead of a National government — the 
best government, instead of the worst and most intolerable on 
earth. Who are the men of these states to whom we are in- 
debted for this admirable government? I will name them — 
their names ought to be engraven on brass and live forever. 
They were Chief Justice Ellsworth, Roger Sherman, and Judge 
Patterson of New Jersey. To the coolness and sagacity of 
these three men, aided by a few others, not so prominent, we 
owe the present constitution. 

The Connecticut proposal went to a committee of detail, 
July 26, and the constitution of the Senate, which was re- 
ported, was finally adopted; the system of complete local 
liberty, with a limited central power, which had proved 



304 -A. History of Connecticut 

so successful on the Connecticut River, passed into the 
government of the whole country, and has proved far more 
efficient in securing prosperity than the framers of the Con- 
stitution dreamed. There was some difference of opinion 
as to the method of choice of executive in case the Electoral 
College failed to elect, but Sherman came to the rescue 
and proposed a compromise whereby the election was 
assigned to the House of Representatives, with the provision 
that each state should have but one vote. Sherman and 
Johnson signed it; the unavoidable departure of Ellsworth 
before the adjournment of the convention is the reason why 
his name is not found on the document. 

The state convention, called to ratify the Federal Con- 
stitution, met in Hartford, January 4, 1788. The delegates 
were addressed by Oliver Ellsworth, Governor Huntington, 
Richard Law, and Oliver Wolcott, and on January 9, the 
constitution was ratified by a vote of one hundred and 
twenty-eight to forty. Ellsworth and Johnson were chosen 
to the Senate of the United States, and Connecticut was 
merged in the larger government. It is interesting to 
consider what further advantage the insight of Sherman 
might have been to the country, if a suggestion of his during 
the discussion on the executive had been followed. He said 
that the magistracy was 

nothing more than an institution for carrying the will of the 
legislature into effect; that the person or persons ought to be 
appointed by and accountable to the legislature only, which was 
the depository of the supreme will of society. As they were 
the best judges of the business which ought to be done by the 
executive department ... he wished the number might not be 
fixed, but that the legislature should be at liberty to appoint 
one or more, as experience might dictate. 

This would have made our executive a body of men 
similar to the English Ministry, and might have furnished 
us with a government simpler, less exposed than now to 




V 



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V, °° 

.3 1-1 
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CJ 




C 

w 
I 

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CO 



Connecticut and tHe Federal Constitution 305 

periodic and often exciting and depressing shocks of violent 
campaigns. 

Though the Constitution was a product of compromises, 
and required several amendments to perfect it, especially 
in the declaration of rights; and though it contained one 
defect which was washed out by the blood of half a million 
men, it saved the country from anarchy, and probably from 
the establishment of several petty governments. It also 
opened a door into an unrivalled freedom and prosperity. 

The question just how decided was the influence of the 
Fundamental Orders of 1639, and the government of Con- 
necticut upon the United States Constitution is difficult to 
answer. There is no doubt about the influence of the 
Connecticut delegates in the convention, but the principles 
which entered into the Constitution were the ripe fruit of 
many centuries of growth, brought to maturity by construc- 
tive Anglo-Saxon minds. There were accomplished scholars 
in the convention, who were familiar with all that had been 
said and done in forming and advancing republican institu- 
tions in the days of the Hebrews, the Greek cities, the 
Swiss commonwealths, the history of England, and in the 
experiences in the different colonies. The preamble, which 
Lieber calls "the most magnificent words I know in all 
history," has a marked similarity to the Massachusetts 
constitution of 1780. Gorham was a member of the 
committee which drafted that constitution, and he was also 
a member of the committee of detail, to prepare a draft of 
the Federal Constitution. The title United States of 
America may have been suggested by the name of the 
United States of the Netherlands, or possibly by R. H. Lee's 
famous motion of June 7, 1776, "That these United Colonies 
are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states." 
The origin of the method of having two houses of Congress 
is suggested by the legislatures of various states, and the 
first system of the kind is found in Massachusetts, where 
it was fully developed in 1644, though the English parliament 



306 A. History of Connecticut 

had been divided into two houses for four hundred years, 
at the time that the American Constitution was formed. 
Admitting all this it may still be said that the implicit 
influence of the Connecticut Constitution of 1639, and the 
weight of the Connecticut delegates, Sherman, Ellsworth, 
and Johnson because of their ability and experience gave 
Connecticut a decided trend to the convention. ^ 



CHAPTER XXII 

CONDITIONS AT THE CLOSE OF THE 
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 

THAT we may keep clearly in mind the development of 
the commonwealth, it seems best, at risk of repetition, 
to take a general view of Connecticut as she entered state- 
hood. When the war ended, while the financial situation 
was dark, commerce paralyzed, trade at the mercy of rivals 
with their heavy imposts, fisheries annihilated, some of the 
foreign markets closed, many of the merchants bankrupt, 
and the moral and religious life at low ebb, there was soon 
felt the throb of a vigorous and inventive energy, which 
soon seized the industries, the farms, the musical, and artistic 
taste of the people. For several years there was much 
anxiety lest the National Government should be unsteady, 
and the widespread feeling of insecurity was a poor tonic 
to capitalists. A sign of the morbid timidity of the time 
appears in the worry over the Order of Cincinnati, an inno- 
cent society of the veterans of the war, organized by General 
Knox to secure some inextravagant benefits for the old 
soldiers. The extreme democratic feeling in Connecticut 
was suspicious of this order, which was about as dangerous 
as the Grand Army of the Republic. It was imagined by 
some that the officers of the Revolution were grafters and 
harpies, who were attempting to obtain riches, which would 
impoverish their fellow-citizens, and Congress was thought 
to be corrupt for aiding them. These sentiments were 

307 



308 .A History of Connecticut 



expressed in a convention in Middletown, and concurred 
in by the General Assembly at its October session of 1783 
Connecticut did not object to taxation, but she was unwilling 
to be taxed to advance the Order of Cincinnati. There 
was danger for a time of sedition among the uninformed, but 
soon the common sense of the more intelligent minority pre- 
vailed to support the measures of Congress, and tranquillity 
was restored. 

There was a contest over the western lands belonging 
to the state, the strip extending to the Pacific, according to 
the charter of Charles II. A section of this, situated in the 
valley of the Susquehanna, and called Westmoreland, had 
been surveyed and scantily settled, as we have seen, and in 
the absence of most of the men, who were in the army, was 
the object of a brutal attack and massacre at the hands of 
English and Indians. Two weeks after the surrender of 
Cornwallis, Pennsylvania petitioned Congress to arbitrate 
upon her claims on that territory. The escape from the 
dilemma was through a reference of the question to a board 
of commissioners from New England, New Jersey, and 
Virginia. After sessions continuing for forty-one judicial 
days, the following verdict was reached on December 13, 
1782: "We are unanimously of the opinion that the juris- 
diction and pre-emption of all territory lying within the 
charter of Pennsylvania, and now claimed by the state of 
Connecticut, do of right belong to the state of Pennsyl- 
vania." Though the request of Connecticut for time to 
secure testimony from England was denied, and the decision 
was considered unjust in the state, it was promptly ac- 
quiesced in, and a land grant was made in place of the 
section taken away, and that part of Ohio called the Western 
Reserve of Connecticut, which exceeded in area the original 
domain on the river, came into the possession of the state. 

After the Revolution, various industries sprang into a 
flourishing life. The tin business, referred to in an earlier 
chapter, beginning in Berlin, was resumed after the war by 



. 




The Old Home of Roger Sherman, "The Signer" and first Mayer 

of New Haven. The House was built by him in 1789 

and stands on Chapel Street near High, 

remodelled into Stores 




Temple Street, New Haven 



Conditions at Close of 18tH Century 309 

some young men who learned the trade from the Pattisons, 
and with the improvement in highways, wagons multiplied, 
and the peddlers gradually added other goods, such as 
pins, needles, shoes, and hats; going through New England, 
and out into the western and southern states. Starting in 
the spring, they traveled through summer and autumn, ar- 
ranging to have supplies ready for them at certain centers, 
and returning to New York, at the close of the season, they 
sold horses and wagon, and took the boat for home, well 
repaid for their shrewdness and enterprise, and, if reports 
are true, for their sharp bargains. Timothy Dwight says 
of them in his Travels, "No course of life tends more 
rapidly to eradicate every moral feeling." There was 
an industry resembling the tin peddler business estab- 
lished in 1793, by Thomas Bugbee, Jr., — pottery works, 
which manufactured pots, jars, mugs, milk-pans, ink-stands, 
and a hundred other articles, which were sold all over 
Windham County from pottery carts. The advertisements 
in the papers of the day suggest the life of the people; the 
Windham Herald announces that John Burgess offered for 
sale "excellent good leather," also a new-fashioned four- 
wheeled vehicle called a wagon, an impracticable invention 
in the judgment of many. There were opportunities to 
buy brown, white, and striped tow-cloth of home manufac- 
ture, also blue, white, and striped mittens, stockings of all 
textures and colors, shoe-thread, cheeses, butter, geese- 
feathers, rags, brass, copper, rabbit skins and other furs. 
Dealers were profuse and urgent in offering their wares, 
and in the list we find "good sweet rum" at five and six- 
pence a gallon, and the best Jamaica rum at one dollar and 
sixpence a gallon. Patent medicines also were coming into 
use, and "Lee's Windham Bilious Pills" had so great a 
reputation that some of the lawyers at the courts declared 
that it would ward off disease to carry a box of these pills 
in the pocket. 

The physician was an important member of the com- 



310 A History of Connecticut 

munity, but his education was brief and meager, as germs 
had not been dreamed of, and the delirious labyrinth of the 
nervous system was still an undiscovered country, since it 
was not until the middle of the nineteenth century that the 
first work on the nervous system was published. There was 
a good deal of doctoring done, for which the physician was 
not responsible; large quantities of loathsome drugs and 
decoctions were swallowed by sick and well. The spring 
dosing was regarded as essential to health, and sulphur, 
senna, rhubarb, with or without molasses, were forced 
down young and old to clean out, tone up, and regulate the 
stomach, kidneys, and liver. Feverish patients were denied 
or stinted in the use of cooling drinks, bleeding was a favor- 
ite panacea for many an ill, and mercury a popular drug. 

The costumes of this period differed slightly from those 
of an earlier time; ladies wore high-heeled shoes, silk or 
satin bonnets, and brocaded dresses with tight sleeves. 
Hoops were again in use, and a woman who was "so poor that 
she hadn't a bead to her neck" was indeed to be pitied. 
The close economy that had prevailed when Mistress Nott 
of Ashford clipped the half -grown fleece from the back of a 
sheep, and made a suit of clothes for a son in a single week, 
was giving way to more stylish garments. There were fewer 
quaint old figures than formerly, that could be identified as 
far as seen by the old cocked hat and the many caped great 
coat, worn a lifetime. Wages were low; a faithful hired man 
carried on General Cleaveland's farm for seventy pounds a 
year; three shillings a day in produce was paid a farm 
laborer; a working woman would toil through a week for 
two and sixpence, while a poor man would walk miles with 
his boy, and dig potatoes for one bushel in ten. Ten dollars 
a month was the salary of the schoolmaster, with "board- 
ing around," and five shillings a week was the pittance of 
the schoolma'am. Wanderers were seen going from place 
to place, — some of them Indians, grim, gaunt, and taciturn, 
extorting food and cider. Amusements were still primitive, 




A Yankee Tin Peddler 




The Wethersfield Elm, Twenty-six and a Half Feet in Girth. The Largest Elm 

East Of The Rockies 



Conditions at Close of 18tK Century 311 

and inclined toward coarseness. Dancing was much en- 
joyed, and reels, jigs, and hornpipes were more popular than 
the stately minuet. Card parties, shooting matches, and 
tavern dinners, with plenty of rum, gin, and tobacco were in 
fashion. Everybody drank, ministers no less than others, 
in those gay and frolicsome days following the heavy strain 
of the war. If a minister made several calls in an afternoon, 
he enjoyed such a mixture of drinks that it was not easy 
always for him to walk the straight and narrow path on his 
journey home. 

There was no post-office in Norwich before the Revolu- 
tion, and the New London office was the station for letter 
delivery for the region. Papers and bundles were carried 
from house to house by post-riders, and letters requiring 
payment often lay weeks before they were claimed. The 
government established a post-office in Norwich in 1782, 
with mails twice a week by three stage routes — Hartford 
by Windham, New Haven by New London, and Boston by 
Providence. It was expensive to send letters, and the 
amount of postage depended on the distance; there were 
distances over which a letter could be sent for fifty cents. 
Libraries were starting here and there; in 1738, Lyme and 
Guilford had a library association, and in the following year, 
the Union Library Association was formed by Woodstock, 
Pomfret, and Killingley, but on account of poor roads, 
the library was divided between the towns, and later, the 
Pomfret and Mortlake library became a highly cherished 
institution. The art of printing was introduced into 
Connecticut in 1709, by Thomas Short of New London, who 
published the Saybrook Platform in 1710. The printing 
press made possible the coming of journalism; the pioneer 
paper being the Connecticut Gazette of New Haven; a four- 
page, two-column weekly sheet, with a subscription price 
of ten shillings a year. The first date of this paper was 
January 1, 1755. Three years later, the New London Sum- 
mary was started. The first number of the Connecticut 



312 .A History of Connecticut 

Courant appeared October 28, 1764. This is the oldest news- 
paper in the United States with a continuous name and 
publication ; there are only two others that antedate it even 
nominally. 

As the stress of war passed, the hunger of the people 
for knowledge and the news sought gratification. Noah 
Webster wrote in 1790, "I am acquainted with parishes 
where almost every householder has read the works of Addi- 
son, Sherlock, Atterbury, Watts, Young and other familiar 
writings; and will converse handsomely on the subjects of 
which they treat." He also says, "By means of the gen- 
eral circulation of the public papers the people are informed 
of all political affairs, and their representatives are often pre- 
pared to debate upon propositions made by the legislature." 
By 1785, there was in Connecticut a newspaper circulation 
of over eight thousand weekly copies. These papers lacked 
locals and leaders, and gave many letters and much foreign 
news, though often three months old, and proceedings of Con- 
gress ten days after the occurrence. In 1786, the Connecticut 
Courant apologized for the meager reports of the legisla- 
ture, and promised to give full details. This reporting was 
a new thing, and it was five years before it became general 
among the six papers published in the state. 

The improving of the roads made possible the circulation 
of the newspapers, and the era developing turnpikes and 
stage-lines was on. Wagons had run between the cities 
long before the Revolution, but the stage-coach waited 
until after the war. In 1790, Litchfield had a fortnightly 
conveyance to New York and a weekly one to Hartford. 
From 1800, there was a daily stage from Hartford to New 
Haven, Norwalk, Poughkeepsie, and Albany. Saddle-bags 
and pillions were giving way to wagons and carriages. 

The whaling business was assuming considerable pro- 
portions, and New London was the whaling port of Connecti- 
cut. Not much was accomplished in the industry in the 
seventeenth century, though whales appeared in the Sound. 



The Conne&icut Courant 



. MONDAY, October 2$, 1764. (Number 00.; 

H J R T F R D: Printed by T H o m a s G r e e n , at trie Heart and Crown, 

near the North-Meeting-Houfe. 



o 



Hartford, Ocloba zo.th t 1764. 

all the Arcs which have been introduc'd amongfl Mankind, for the civilizing Human-Nature, and rendering Life 
agreeable and happy, none appear of greater Advantage than that of Printing ; for hereby the grcateft Genius's 
of all Ages, and Nations, live and fpeak for the Benefit of future Generations.— 

(hould be left almoft int'ircly ignorant of all thofe noble Sentiments which the Anticntr* 



By this Art, Men are brought acquainted with each other, though never fo remote, as to Age or Situation ; it lays open 
to View, the Manners, Genius and Policy of all Nations and Countries and faithfully tranfmits them to Poflerity. — But not 
to infill upon the Ufefulnefs of this Art in general, which mull be obvious to every One, whofe Thoughts are the lead extefivc. 

The Benefit of a Weekly Paper, mufl in particular have its Advantages, is it is the Channel which conveys the History 
of the prefen; Times to every Part of the World. 



The Articles of News from the different Papers '(which we fhall receive every Saturday, from the neighbouring Provinces) 
that fhall appear to' us, to be moll authentic and interefting fhall always be carefully inferted ; and great Care will be 
taken to collca from Time to Time all tiomellic Occurrences, that are worthy the Notice of the Publick; for which, we 
fhall always be obliged to any of, our Correfpondents, within whofe Knowledge they may happen. 

The CONNECTICUT COURANT, (a Specimen of which, the Publick are now prefented with) will, on due En- 
couragement be continued every Monday, beginning on Monday, the 19th of November, next: Which Encouragement 
we hope to deferve, by a coflant Endeavour to render this Paper ufeful, and entertaining, not only as a Channel for News, 
but aliilling to all Thofe who may have Occafion to make ufe of it as an Advertifer. 

C5"3ubfcriptions for this Paper, will be taken in at the Printing-Office, near the North-Meeting-Houfe, in Hartford. 



BOSTON, October ] . not be true in fact, that the fevcrity of the new a— t of p 1 

IT is now out of fafhion to put on mourning at the funeral of " to be imputed to letters, rcprcfen'tations. Narratives, 
the neareft relation, which will make a faving to this town &C, tranfmitted to the m y about two years ago by per- 

of twenty thoufand fterling per annum,— It is surprizing how f°ns of eminence this fide the water — And that Tome copies 
fuddenly, as well as how generally an old cuftom is abolifhed, of letters are-aftually in this town, and o.thers so/m expected. 
it fhows however, the good fenfe of the town, for it is certain- — To whatever caufe thefe feverities are owing, it behooves 
ly prudent to retrench our extravagant espences, while we have the colonies to represent their grievances in the ftrongeft 
fomething left to frbfifl ourselves, rather than be driven to it point of light, and to unite in fuch meafures as will be ejfcdu- 
by fatal neceffity. "/ to obtain redrefs. 

Wc hear that the laudable practice of frugality is now intro- The northern colonics have fenfe enough, at lead the fenfe 
during itfelf in all the neighbouring towns, (and it were to be of feeling; and, can tell where the J/we, pinches — The delicate 
wifhed it might thro'out the government) an inllance of which ladies begin to find by experience, that the Shoes made at 
we have from Charleflown, at a funeral there the beginning of Lyn are much eafier than thofe of the make of Mr. Hose of 
la ft week, which the relatives and others attended, without London — What is become of the noted fhoemaker of FJfex ? 
any other mourning than which is prefcribed in a refcent agree- It is fear'd by many who wifh well to Great BriUin, that 

ment. the new A— t of P 1 will greatly diftrefs, if not totally 

OcloberS. There feems to be a difpofition in many of the in- ruin fome of HER own manufactures— It is thought that 
habitants of this and the neighbouring gorernments to cloath by means of this A — t, lefs of her woolen cloths, to the a- 
themfelvcs with their own manufacture. — At Hampflead, on -mount of fome thoufands fterling, will be purchas'd in this 
Long Ifland, in the Province of N. York, a company of gen- cold climate the infuing winter. 

tlcmen have let up a new woolen manufactory, and having gi- ■ We are told that all the Funerals of laft Week were con- 
ven notice to gentlemen fhopkeepers and others, of aoy.of ;he ducted upon the new Plan of Frugality. 

provinces, that by fending proper patterns of any colour, they Nothing but Frugality can now fave the d>J?refs'd nor- 
may be fupplied with broad-cloths, equal in iinenefs, colour, them colonics from impending ruin — It ought to be a confo- 
and goodnefs, and cheaper than any imported: the proprie- lation to the good people of a certain province, that trie great- 
tors give good encouragement to any perfon who are any way eft man in it exhibits the moft rigid example of this political 
veiled in the woolen manufactory, fuch as wool combers, as well as moral virtue. 

weavers, clothiers, fhearcrs,' dyers, fpinners, carders, or un- A fur prizing concatenation of events to one man in one week. 
deriland any branch of the broad-cloth, blanket, or ftroud Publilhed a Sunday — married a Monday — had a Child a. 

manufactory. At Jamaica on the faid ifland, one Tunis Tuefday — dole a horfe'a Wednefday — banifhed a Thuriday 

Polpham is erecting a fulling-mill, -which will be compleat —died a Friday—buried a Saturday— all in one Week. 

in about a month, and carry on all the branches of- a fuller N E W P R T, Odober 15. 

"i^" ° f cloth " Letters from Jamaica inform us that one of the Men of 

The Surveyor-General has appointed Charles Antrobus, War on that Station called lately at the Cape„ and brought 
Efq; to be an officer of his majelly's cufloms to sieze prohi- away one of the people that had been carried thither from 
bited and uncoflomed goods in North-America. And, - Turks-Ifland"; the Captain on asking the Reafon of their 

WilUam Brown, Efq; to be collector of his majeftyJs cuf- Behaviour there which was looked on as a Breach of the good 
toms at Salem and Marblehead. Underftanding between the two Crowns received for Anfwer 

Yeflerday one of his majefly's cruisers arrived in King- H was done by Orders from the Courts of France and Spain. A 
Road; t.s thought to be the Cygnet. King's Frigate was difpatched by Admiral Sir William Bur- 

By a letter from Barbados, we have advice, that Gidney naby to Turks-Ifland and the Cape 
Clark Efq; of that Ifland, died there on the 27th of Au- . The Squirrel man of war, Capt. Smith, failed from this port, 
guft lafl, greatly lamented. f or Halifax lafl Thuriday. 

. It is now confidently affirmed by fome, which however may 

First page of first copy of Connecticut Courant; the oldest news- 
paper in the United States with continuous name and 
publication 



Conditions at Close of 18tK Century 313 

When one was caught it was killed on shore, and the fat tried 
out there. The first ship fitted out for whaling from New 
London was in 1 784 ; but it was the Commerce, which cleared 
February 6, 1794, that had the honor of putting Connecticut 
into competition with Nantucket. The Commerce returned 
from the south seas after fifteen months, full of oil. From 
that time until 1840, when the business reached its prime, 
the number of ships increased, until at length New Lon- 
don had seventy-one ships and barks, one brig, six schooners, 
and a capital of over two million dollars invested, requiring 
the services of three thousand men. 

The first man in America to utilize steam as a marine 
motive power was John Fitch, who was born in East Windsor, 
in 1743. In 1785, he built a model of his paddle-wheel 
boat ; the following year his craft attained the speed of seven 
miles an hour. The following year he launched a larger 
boat on the Delaware. In 1788, a patent was obtained, 
and in the summer a new steamboat appeared with a tubular 
boiler, and three paddles at the stern. On the trial trip, 
a boiler pipe burst; the boat was abandoned, but afterwards 
repaired and run regularly between Philadelphia and 
Trenton ; her maximum speed was eight miles an hour. At 
the request of a stockholder of the steamboat company, 
Fitch visited France to introduce his invention there. As 
it was at the time of the French Revolution, he received 
no encouragement, but on returning home, he left his draw- 
ings and specifications in the keeping of the man who re- 
quested him to visit France, and it is said that the man 
showed them to Robert Fulton, who was at that time experi- 
menting in France. Fitch was discouraged, moved west, and 
committed suicide in 1798. 

It is not possible to describe this busy era through which 
the state was passing: the people of Branford were making 
salt, for which the Assembly paid eighty pounds for five hun- 
dred bushels. Abel Buell of Killingworth established a type 
foundry in New Haven, and coined coppers for the state, 



314 -A. History of Connecticut 

constructing a machine that could produce one hundred and 
twenty in a minute. At the close of the war he visited 
England to learn about machinery for the manufacture of 
cloth, and on his return with a Scotchman, named Mcintosh, 
he erected a cotton factory. During the ten years following 
1783, General Humphreys was introducing Spanish merino 
sheep to provide material for the factories making fine 
broadcloth, for the statement of Roger Sherman at the 
constitutional convention in 1787, was coming true, that 
Connecticut was a manufacturing state. Hitherto manu- 
facturing had been on a small scale, and had been confined 
mostly to household weaving, fulling mills, forges, and mak- 
ing various articles of iron. There were many hand looms 
in the homes, and a product of seven hundred yards of cloth 
was sometimes made by a family in a year, and more nails 
were hammered out by the men and boys than they could 
use, but acute minds and busy hands were at work ; the iron 
works at Salisbury were thriving; clocks, watches, shingle- 
nails, paper, and pottery were among the manufactures 
started in Norwalk between 1767-73, and in Windham, 
hosiery, silk, and tacks were manufactured. President 
Stiles of Yale was interested in the culture of silk, and his 
commencement gown in 1789, was of Connecticut make. 
The legislature encouraged silk industries by offering a 
bounty on the raising of mulberry trees and for raw silk. 
Half an ounce of mulberry seed was distributed to each 
parish. The Connecticut Silk Society was incorporated 
in 1785, with its headquarters at New Haven. Its object 
was to encourage silk culture and manufacture throughout 
the state. Mansfield was the center of this business; her 
inhabitants in 1793, received a bounty on two hundred and 
sixty-five pounds of raw silk. Mansfield had several 
inventors : one of them made a buzz-saw for cutting the teeth 
of horn combs; another a screw auger; while steelyards and 
spectacles were manufactured there. Eli Terry went from 
South Windsor to Northbury, then a part of Watertown, 







The Ruins of the Forge where the Anchor of the " Constitution " was Cast 




The Steamboat of John Fitch (1743- 1798) 

Redrawn from an Old Print 



Conditions at Close of 18tK Century 315 

in 1793, to manufacture clocks. At about the same time, 
Dr. Apollos Kinsley rode through the streets of Hartford 
in one of the first steam carriages ever made, a pioneer 
automobile, of which he was the inventor. In 1798, Eli 
Whitney, the inventor of the cotton-gin, established a 
manufactory at Hampden to complete a contract with the 
government to furnish ten thousand stands of arms. There 
were starting linen and button factories at New Haven; 
glass-works, snuff-mills, powder-mills, iron-works, and a 
duck factory at Hartford; hollow ironware at Stafford in 
large quantities; tinware in Berlin by some men who had 
learned the business from the Pattison brothers before the 
war; buttons in quantities at Waterbury; nails, candles, hats, 
boots, and shoes through the state. Daniel Hinsdale of 
Hartford built the " Hartford Woolen Manufactory in 1788, 
near the foot of Mulberry Street, the first of the kind in 
the country, for making broadcloth. When in full opera- 
tion it produced annually over five thousand yards of cloth, 
consisting of broadcloths, coatings, cassimeres, serges, and 
everlastings. Washington was much interested in the enter- 
prise and patronized it, and at the first, presidential inaugu- 
ration, he, John Adams, and the Connecticut delegation, 
were clothed in Connecticut broadcloth. This mill made 
also the famous pepper-and-salt cloth, and in 1794, Sam- 
uel Pitkin & Co. began to manufacture at Manchester vel- 
vets, corduroys, and fustians. There was an important 
invention in 1784 by Ebenezer Chittenden, who at New 
Haven perfected a machine for bending and cutting card 
teeth. The machine was worked by a mandrel twelve 
inches in length and one inch in diameter, and was run by a 
band wheel turned by a crank. It required six independent 
parts of the machine to make a complete tooth ; this was 
accomplished by one revolution of the wheel. This machine 
had such a remarkable capacity that it could supply all the 
manufacturers of New England. 

In 1 79 1, the state passed laws for the encouragement of 



316 -A History of Connecticut 

small factories that the necessities of war had sought, though 
it was not till after the Hinsdale act of 1837, creating the 
joint-stock companies, that Connecticut turned from a 
purely agricultural to the manufacturing state we are so 
familiar with to-day. 

Exports consisted of horses, mules, cattle, salted beef, 
pork, and fish, lumber, masts, ashes, grain, butter, cheese, and 
leather. There were five ports of entry, and the value of 
exports was about a million and a half of dollars annually. 
All this vigorous and inventive growth was encouraged 
and strengthened by the democratic government flourishing 
in the different towns. This account of the activities of 
Connecticut in many lines gives a suggestion of the many 
energies of the people as the eighteenth century closed, and 
of the rich fruitage of philanthropy and industrial growth 
of the nineteenth century. It also reminds us of the 
prominent part the state has played in the life of the 
Republic. 



CHAPTER XXIII 
FINANCE AND TAXATION 

NO other question was more pressing as Connecticut 
passed into statehood than that of money, for the 
financial strain had been heavy, the currency was almost 
worthless, the banks had not started, and on every side 
were opportunities for which capital was needed. We 
shall best understand the situation by passing in review 
rapidly the whole history of finance and taxation from the 
beginning. In earliest times there was little money, since 
the settlers brought little, and much of their scanty funds 
went back to buy supplies. There were ingenious ways of 
gaining a currency, such as the law, passed in Massachusetts 
in 1654, providing "that muskett bullets of a full boare shall 
pass currently for a farthing apiece, provided that noe man 
be compelled to take above 12 pence att a tyme in them." 
It was solid money, that could not be counterfeited, and use- 
ful for Indian or wolf. Wampum soon came into considerable 
use, and in 1637, Massachusetts ordered that this product 
of shells and flint drills should pass at six a penny for any 
amount under twelvepence; not till 1661, was- the wam- 
pum legal-tender law repealed, while this currency was in 
circulation until the Revolution. Corn, including maize, 
rye, oats, and wheat, pelts of otter, beaver, mink, fox, and 
bear were exchanged at the stores for cloth, rum, sugar, 
spices, and molasses. In 1642, Indian corn was made legal 
tender, and from 1650, the standard of values was established 

317 



3 J 8 -A. History of Connecticut 

year by year. In 1652, Massachusetts formed a mint to 
coin bullion — shillings, sixpences, and threepences, with a 
pine tree on one side and "New England" on the other. 
Those pieces were alloyed one-fourth below the British 
standard, so that the pound currency of New England came 
to be one-fourth less valuable than the pound sterling of the 
mother-country. In 1737, John Higley, an ingenious black- 
smith of Salisbury, coined copper cents, whose favorite device 
was a deer with "the value of three pence" on one side, and 
on the other three hammers, each bearing a crown, and the 
inscription, "I am a good copper." Connecticut coined 
more coppers than any other colony and the metal in them 
was so pure that it was eagerly sought by goldsmiths. 
Abel Buell made dies for several colonies, and in 1785, the 
legislature authorized a mint to coin cents. 

When Madame Knight passed through the colony in 1704, 
she found four kinds of currency; pay was barter at prices 
decided by annual vote; money was wampum or metallic 
money; pay as money was property at rates decided by the 
parties; trust was a price with time given. Money used 
in larger payments was mainly Spanish pieces, worth about 
a dollar. Currency varied so much in kind and value, and 
there were so many opportunities for the unscrupulous, that 
Yankee wits had a wide field in which to train for later 
shrewdness. Until 1709, the financial basis was sound — the 
tax rate rising or lowering as necessity required, but the 
limit had been reached; taxes were at the ruinous tune of 
seven or eightpence a pound, and the scarcity of money, 
heavy public debts, and the costly intended expedition to 
Canada led the Assembly to order the issue of eight thou- 
sand pounds in paper currency, to be received at a premium 
of five per cent, in payment of taxes. There was no legal- 
tender clause, and there was a special tax of tenpence in the 
pound for the payment in two annual parts. Further levies 
called for the issue of eleven thousand pounds more in the 
same year, with the provision for a tax to meet it in six 



Finance and Taxation 319 

annual payments. From that time, issues followed rapidly, 
and with them there was an earnest endeavor to provide for 
their redemption by special taxation. In 1718, the dreaded 
legal-tender clause came timidly in; debtors tendering bills 
of credit were not to be imprisoned, and fresh bills of credit 
appeared with their homely faces. It cost money to send 
soldiers to Port Royal, Canada, and the frontiers; counter- 
feiting became common and business demoralized. A 
company of fifty men in New London organized in 1732, to 
promote trade and commerce, and their bills were hailed with 
joy, though they bore no promise to pay, but only an agree- 
ment that the society would receive them. Six months 
later, the legislature abolished the society, and the bills 
disappeared. In 1733, the colony laid aside all conservatism 
and issued thirty thousand pounds in paper, dividing the 
amount into equal loans among the five counties; debt 
increased, commodities rose in price, as did silver from eight 
shillings an ounce in 1708, to eighteen in 1732, and thirty- 
two in 1744. Wages lingered behind the cost of everything 
the laborer ate or wore, and since the authorities were care- 
less in keeping their accounts, it was impossible to reach a 
balance. 

The best that can be made out of the figures is that up 
to 1740, one hundred and fifty- six thousand pounds had 
been issued in paper, and all but about six thousand had 
been redeemed by taxation, and there was a debt of about 
forty thousand pounds. In 1739, the Assembly took meas- 
ures for defense, for England and Spain were at war in 
the West Indies, and of the thousand men sent by the 
colony only one hundred returned. A new issue of 
forty-five thousand pounds was ordered, eight thousand of 
which was used to redeem earlier issues, known as old tenor; 
twenty-three thousand was to be loaned, and the interest was 
to create a sinking fund to liquidate the new issue, called 
new tenor Yielding to the pressure of the English Board 
of Trade and Plantations, the legal-tender clause was abol- 



320 .A. History of Connecticut 

ished. The expedition against Louisburg in 1744, brought 
heavy expense, which was met by fresh issues of "new 
tenor," raising the emissions for the war to one hundred 
and thirty-one thousand pounds on the valuation of the 
colony of less than a million pounds. Soon these bills 
depreciated, though one of the new tenor was worth 
three and a half of the old tenor. In 1751, Parliament 
forbade the issues of paper currency, except for taxes 
of the present year, or to be secured by taxes payable 
in five years; and by buying up the old tenor obligations at 
eleven per cent, of their face value, enforced taxation, and a 
grant from Parliament, Connecticut liquidated all the out- 
standing paper. The experience made the people shy of 
paper money later on, though in the French and Indian 
wars just before the Revolution there were large issues of 
bills of credit, which seem to have been paid at maturity 
or before, not shilling for shilling, but in a way more or less 
just. 

In the pressing need of money as the Revolution came on, 
the General Assembly voted in April, 1775, fifty thousand 
pounds in bills of credit for two years without interest; in 
May, it issued fifty thousand for three years; in July, fifty 
thousand more for four and a half years, and three taxes were 
levied of sevenpence in a pound to meet this. In 1776, bills 
had depreciated so much that they were refused, and a few 
patriotic men went forward and gave silver for paper, while 
Congress passed resolutions stamping those who refused such 
bills as "lost to virtue and enemies of their country." In 
March, 1776, commissioners of fifteen towns met in Hartford 
and passed anxious resolutions on the "late alarming rise of 
West India goods," adopting a schedule of "reasonable 
prices. " The action was as effective as a child's hand to stop 
a tornado, and in October, 1776, the legislature made Con- 
tinental and Connecticut bills legal tender; ordering that 
if any evil-minded person tried to depreciate such bills, he 
should forfeit the full value of his money and also the prop- 



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Finance and Taxation 321 

erty off ered for sale. In November, 1776, "in this day of 
public calamity and distress," a law was passed to regulate 
prices, with pains and penalties attached to the violation 
of it, and the next month the penalty was increased. No 
bills for circulation were issued that year, except a few in 
small denominations to help in making change, and the 
people were forbidden to buy or sell, except in small quanti- 
ties, rum, molasses, sugar, tea, coffee, salt, shoes, wool, and 
much else, unless the dealer was known as a "friend of 
freedom, " under penalty of forfeiture of double the value of 
the goods. Public feeling against speculators ran high, and 
Washington paused in his campaigns to brand the infamy of 
such traitors, saying: "It is much to be lamented that each 
state has not hunted them down as pests of society; some 
of the more atrocious ought to be hung on gibbets five times 
as high as Hainan's." 

The juvenile political economy went on, but printing- 
press currency was not welcomed, though legislatures 
threatened and patriots exhorted. With the opening of 
1778, paper money was worth twenty-five cents on a dollar 
in Philadelphia, and the legislature of Connecticut passed 
measures to regulate the price of every important article; 
importers were to count a dollar for every shilling paid in 
Europe; retailers were to make only twenty-five per cent, 
profit; whoever violated these laws was to be fined forty 
shillings, and be disqualified from holding office or prosecut- 
ing a suit at law. No one could "maintain any suit until 
he swore by the everliving God" that he was not guilty of 
such violation. This was soon repealed but it shows the 
temper of the time and the scanty knowledge of finance. 
More sensible was the action of the same session, looking 
toward taking up bills and canceling them by use of loans, 
and better still by taxation. It was also enacted that none 
of the bills of the state, except for sums under a dollar, should 
be current in trade after March 1, 1779; the state issues were 
called in and exchanged for the treasurer's promissory notes, 



322 .A History of Connecticut 

or for bills of the United States, and nothing more was heard 
of local bills after 1779. Continental money kept losing 
value, for Congress issued over two hundred millions of dol- 
lars in paper money. On January 1, 1779, it stood at seven 
to one ; on May 1 , twenty-four to one ; and Congress called 
on the states to pay forty-five million dollars before January 1 , 
1 780, on which date, paper and silver stood at a ratio of forty 
to one in Philadelphia. Religion and patriotism continued 
to join forces; Congress sent appeals to be read in the 
churches; Connecticut repealed the legal-tender law for all 
kinds of money; speculation was rife; industries checked; 
some fortunes were made and more lost. After six inglor- 
ious years, Continental currency died in 1781; on the first 
of January of that year, one hundred dollars in Continental 
money was needed to buy one dollar in silver, and by the 
end of May paper money ceased to pass at all. 

After the Revolution, chaos reigned in business — cursed 
with truck and barter, with their variable prices. Money 
was scarce, except the fiat variety, which encouraged gam- 
bling. In 1792, the Assembly chartered the Union Bank of 
New London and the Hartford Bank. Only four preceded 
these in America. Hezekiah Merrill, cashier of the Hartford 
Bank, had a salary of five hundred dollars. Banks were 
soon organized in New Haven, Middletown, and Norwich. 
Savings banks date from 18 19, and the first to form was the 
Society for Savings of Hartford, with Daniel Wadsworth 
president, and Elisha Colt treasurer. The bank paid five 
per cent, interest, and so small were the deposits at first that 
the treasurer carried the money of the bank in his pocket by 
day, and at night slept with it under his pillow. In 1820, 
a savings bank was opened in New Haven, and soon after- 
wards banks were organized in Norwich, Middletown, and 
New London. The revision of the laws in 1796, changed 
currency from pounds and shillings to dollars and cents, and 
a pound at that time was worth three dollars and thirty- 
four cents. 



Finance and Taxation 323 

The first principles of taxation in Connecticut came from 
the mother colony of Massachusetts, and the backbone of 
the colonial system was the direct tax. The first mention of 
land as the basis was in January 4, 1638, in Connecticut and 
August 5, 1640, in New Haven, and from that period until 
18 1 8, land was rated according to the "profitte and bene- 
fitts" thence arising. By the code of 1650, from which date 
Connecticut may be said to have a system of taxation, all 
sorts of land were taxed for colony and town expenses. On 
October 23, 1676, the General Assembly ordered that 
meadow land be rated from twenty to sixty shillings ; house- 
lots fifteen to fifty-five; tilled land from eight to twenty- 
five; mowing and pasture from ten to twenty, and all else 
at a shilling per acre. In 1712, a simpler classification was 
adopted, and meadow land was appraised according to local- 
ity. A tax was gradually levied on all property, such as 
houses, mills, wharves, and cattle; there was a poll tax 
after English and Massachusetts fashion; according to the 
code of 1650, every male upwards of sixteen paid a poll tax 
of two shillings and sixpence; after 1737, males between 
sixteen and sixty paid a poll tax equivalent to the tax on 
an estate of eight pounds, with the exception of ministers, 
teachers at Yale, persons in favored occupations and those 
infirm. Trades and incomes were taxed according to a 
man's earning ability, and there were licenses and taxes on 
products, imports, and exports, with fines, fees on the sale 
of lands and lotteries. In 1638, a tax was laid on the beaver 
trade; in 1645, it was voted to lay a tax of twopence a bushel 
on corn and meal exported, and twopence a hogshead 'on 
beaver. There was a tax of twelvepence on every milch 
cow or mare, and twelvepence on every hog killed. Pre- 
vious to 1 77 1, the rates at which trades were decided de- 
pended on the judgment of the assessors, but from that time 
retail dealers paid a tax on ten per cent, of the cost of their 
stock, and wholesale traders and tavern-keepers according 
to income. Carriages with tops were rated at five pounds, 



324 A. History of Connecticut 

and three pounds if without ; houses, according to number of 
stories and fireplaces. 

According to the code of 1650, the colonial treasurer sent 
warrants to constables and selectmen, calling on them to 
assemble the people and choose three or four men to be listers ; 
one of these should be a commissioner to meet the others at 
Hartford, correct and equalize the lists, and report to the 
General Court. In 1666, the power of the commissioners was 
transferred to the deputies, and in 1692, deputies were 
relieved by special officers — one for every town. In 1703, 
the duties of inspectors were merged in those of listers. In 
1689, the principle of will and doom was adopted, and who- 
ever failed to hand in a list of his property was assessed by 
the listers; this also applied to towns. In 1703, it was voted 
that listers should put a fourfold rate upon those neglecting 
to return a list, and the constable was permitted to resort 
to methods of "distress" in collecting taxes, — such as seizure 
of goods and cattle, and even imprisonment. After the 
constable's term of office expired, he had power to distress 
delinquents for arrears, and if he died in office, his adminis- 
trator could force payment ; if the constable failed to secure 
the taxes, his property was levied upon by the treasurer, who 
in turn was responsible for deficiencies, or the sheriff levied 
execution on the property of the selectmen. In 17 14, it was 
ordered that when a constable was insolvent, the sheriff was 
to collect the amount from the selectmen, who were to levy 
on the town for it. An abatement was made for the poor, 
and in 1757, it was ordered to discount on taxes paid in ad- 
vance for the French and Indian war. Ten years later, it 
was voted to charge interest on taxes overdue. 

While open to many defects, the income-tax system which 
prevailed until 18 18, was simple, and free from many of the dif- 
ficulties of the present laws ; the best meadow land came to be 
assessed at two dollars and a half an acre, ploughed land a 
dollar and sixty-seven cents, pasture a dollar and thirty- 
four cents, woods thirty-four cents, and all equalization 



Finance and Taxation 3 2 5 

was made by the legislature. With the adoption of the Con- 
stitution the whole subject of taxation was taken up afresh, 
and a far more complicated state of things presented itself 
than before, as the state passed from the agricultural to the 
industrial condition. In his message in 1819, Governor 
Oliver Wolcott speaks of the difficulty of maintaining justice 
under the older system; the inequality of the value of lands 
in different parts of the state was not sufficiently recognized ; 
over three hundred thousand acres out of the 2,293,083 
was not reported at all, and the agricultural family con- 
tributed about seventy-seven per cent, above its propor- 
tion as compared with families supported by labor and other 
employments. It was decided to change the whole sys- 
tem and list real estate at three per cent, of its real value 
and personal property at six per cent. This continued until 
1850, when it was voted to list all property on a basis of 
three per cent., and every kind of property not specially 
exempted was to be taxed, moreover no tax was to be levied 
on persons except polls; for the first time taxpayers were 
required to return lists under oath. It was soon found that 
people with property that could not be seen were not apt to 
report it, and such possessions formed only four per cent, of 
the grand list. Various methods have been tried nearly a 
century to overcome dishonesty; at one time there was a 
reward for the assessors if they found concealed property; 
they were to add fourfold to the appraisal, with one-half 
of the addition for their own pockets, but this was a failure. 
In i860, it was voted that the property of those failing to 
return a list was to be listed at its "present, full, fair, and 
just value," and assessors were to add any taxable property 
omitted. In 1865, the present law was passed, directing 
assessors to add ten per cent, to a man's taxable property 
in case he did not fill out a list. 

To discover remedies for the inequalities a commission 
was created in 1843, to investigate the whole subject of 
taxation in its effect upon property owners, and its report 



326 .A History of Connecticut 

was not adopted. In 1867, since other evils had arisen in 
addition to those of the earlier time, another commission 
was appointed, which advised changes unacceptable to the 
legislature, and in 1884, a tax commission was created which 
made a report in January, 1887, submitting several bills, 
nearly all of which have been adopted with few changes. 
One of these is the inheritance tax, which was made a law in 
1889, levying five per cent, on all property above one thou- 
sand dollars to collateral heirs. In 1897, & was voted to 
exempt ten thousand dollars, and the tax was of one-half 
of one per cent, to lineals and three per cent, to collaterals. 
By the statutes of 19 13, it is provided that all property pass- 
ing in trust for any charitable purpose within the state or 
gifts to institutions for public benefit are exempt from 
inheritance tax, and that the state shall receive one per 
cent, of the value of all property in excess of five thou- 
sand dollars, passing to parent, husband, wife, child, 
any other legally adopted child or other lineal descend- 
ant of the decedent, up to one hundred thousand dollars; 
two per cent, on any amount from one hundred thou- 
sand to two hundred thousand dollars; three per cent. 
for any amount above three hundred thousand dollars; 
one per cent, of the value of all property in excess of three 
thousand dollars passing to the wife or widow of a son, 
the husband of a daughter, and to a brother or sister of the 
full or half blood of the decedent, up to the amount of one 
hundred thousand dollars; three per cent, of any amount 
above one hundred thousand dollars; five per cent, of the 
value of all property in excess of five hundred dollars to all 
others, or to any society, not exempted as above, up to one 
hundred thousand dollars, and six per cent, of any amount 
above that. 

The first state tax on express companies was imposed in 
1864, and the rate was one per cent, on the gross receipts 
taken within the state. The following year it was raised to 
two per cent.; in 1889, the basis was changed to gross re- 



Finance and Taxation 327 

ceipts from commerce entirely within the state, and at the 
same time the rate was raised to five per cent. The first 
law to tax telephone companies was enacted in 1882, and it 
taxed the companies two per cent, on their gross receipts 
collected within the state. In 1889, the system was changed 
to a tax of seventy cents on the transmitters and twenty -five 
cents on mileage. The first tax on telegraph companies was 
passed in 1862 — a tax of three-quarters of one per cent, on all 
property owned by the companies; in 1864, it was changed 
to a tax of one cent on every message sent from an office in the 
state, and the next year that was replaced by a tax of two 
per cent, on the gross receipts within the state. By the 
statutes of 191 3, every express company conducting business 
on steam or electric railroads or street railways, every 
company conducting a telegraph, cable, or telephone busi- 
ness, every dining, sleeping, chair, or parlor car company, 
every refrigerator, oil, stock, fruit, and other car company 
operating upon the railroads shall pay an annual tax upon 
the gross earnings of lines, routes, cars, and exchanges oper- 
ated within the state. The rate of the tax on the gross 
earnings is as follows: express companies, two per cent.; tele- 
graph, cable, and car companies, three per cent.; telephone 
companies, four per cent. 

The method of taxing railroads is the stock and bond 
plan, the basis being the sum of the market value of the 
stock and of funded and floating indebtedness. The rate, 
according to the statutes of 1913, was raised from one per 
cent, to eleven mills for two years. The law began with the 
act of 1849, which provided that upon all shares of stock 
owned by persons outside the state there should be a tax of 
one-half of one per cent. The tax on banks, trust companies, 
and stock insurance companies is one per cent, on the market 
value of all stocks, less taxes paid on real estate, and the pro- 
ceeds are paid to the towns in which the stockholders live. 
The mutual insurance companies pay a tax of one-fourth of 
one per cent, on the gross value of the assets, less the amount 



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CHAPTER XXIV 
THE SECOND WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 

IT was generally supposed in America that after Cornwallis 
had surrendered and the treaty was signed, there would be 
no more serious trouble with the mother-country, but it was 
soon found that this country must wage a second war with 
England, or cease from self-respect; and the humiliation of 
the war was that it was delayed so long, and conducted so 
languidly. For six years, the United States had borne the 
injurious treatment of England and France, and their claims 
of the right to search her ships, impress her seamen, harass 
her commerce and blockade her coasts, until it could be 
tolerated no longer. Six thousand seamen had been taken 
from her ships, and the time had come when something must 
be done to put a stop to foreign insolence and tyranny. 
The census of 1810, had shown that the population of the 
United States was a little over seven millions, while the 
population of the United Kingdom was eighteen and a half 
millions, but England was at war with Napoleon. Madison's 
declaration of war on June 19, 1812, found the country unpre- 
pared with an adequate army and navy. There was a regu- 
lar army of less than seven thousand men, without discipline 
or proper equipment. Amos Kendall thus describes some 
soldiers he saw in 18 14: "About three hundred militia 
... on their way to Erie. They were without order, and 
apparently without officers — mean, dirty, ugly, and in every 
respect contemptible. . . . The soldiers are under no more 

330 



THe Second War for Independence 331 

restraint than a herd of swine." The officers were elderly 
men, some of them of Revolutionary experience, of whom 
General Winfield Scott said they were indifferent or posi- 
tively bad, sunk in sloth and indolence, many of them being 
ruined by intemperate drinking. 

Arms, ammunition, clothing, stores, fortifications, were 
scanty and poor ; so wretched were the roads that it cost sixty 
dollars to get a barrel of flour from New York to Detroit, 
and fifty cents to transport every pound of shot, powder, and 
cannon-balls, for the avenues led through forest trails, 
through pest-breeding swamps, over rivers swollen by fre- 
quent rains, and through regions infested by hostile Indians. 
Moreover the treasury was almost empty, for, as Randolph 
declared, the country had been "embargoed and non-inter- 
coursed almost into a consumption." Dearborn, who 
became senior major-general, had been a deputy quarter- 
master-general in the Revolution, later a colonel of a New 
Hampshire regiment, and Secretary of War under Jefferson, 
and he left the collectorship of the port of Boston at the age 
of sixty-one to take command of the army. It was the mis- 
fortune of General William Hull, a native of Derby, governor 
of Michigan Territory, to become one of the four brigadier- 
generals appointed by President Madison, and he was 
placed in command of the northwestern army. Hull had 
served in the Revolution thirty years before, and was at the 
time of his appointment sixty years old. He started from 
Washington to take command of the troops at Dayton with 
no clear instructions what to do. The British commander 
was Major-General Isaac Brock, lieutenant-governor of 
Upper Canada, and a man of remarkable energy, courage, and 
resources. Though Hull knew that the British were in 
control of Lake Erie, he sent off his baggage, hospital stores, 
intrenching tools, and muster-rolls from the Maumee River 
to Detroit. The capture of this vessel by the British showed 
the purposes of the Americans, and Brock wrote to Prevost, 
" I had no idea until a few days ago, that General Hull was 



33 2 -A. History of Connecticut 

advancing with so large a force," and he marshaled at once 
his little army. 

Hull reached Detroit early in July, and under orders from 
Washington, crossed the river to attack Maiden, issued a 
proclamation to Canada and then waited until Brock had 
reinforced his army with Indians, when, overcome with fears, 
he retreated in weakness and fear to Detroit; Brock fol- 
lowed him, though with a smaller force. In that time of 
despondency, the colonels of the regiments offered to make 
Lieutenant- Colonel Miller of the regulars commander in 
the place of Hull, but he declined. After two days at De- 
troit, Brock decided to move against the fort, and on August 
15, he summoned Hull to surrender, threatening if he 
refused, to let the Indians loose on the whole territory far 
and wide to butcher the people. For the moment Hull 
refused to surrender, but when the British advanced to 
attack the fort with artillery, infantry, Indians and two 
vessels, he sent out a white flag and a force of about twenty- 
five hundred men. The fort and Detroit passed into the hands 
of a determined general with an army of three hundred and 
thirty regulars, four hundred militia, and about six hundred 
Indians. Hull tried to justify his course by claiming that 
his troops were on short rations, that he could not pos- 
sibly have held the place until rescue came, and that he 
preferred to sacrifice his own reputation than expose the 
territory to the ravages of the Indians. In the scorn and 
vituperation that have been heaped upon Hull, there has 
been little consideration of his inefficient superior, Dearborn, 
the rawness of the American troops, and the military inex- 
perience of this elderly man. A year and a half later he was 
tried by court-martial on charges of treason, cowardice, and 
neglect of duty, and sentenced to be shot on the last two 
charges. The court recommended him to the mercy of 
the president, who approved the verdict, but remitted the 
execution of it, on account of the former services of Hull in 
the Revolution. 



, XKe Second "War for Independence 333 

Three days after the surrender of Detroit, Isaac Hull, 
also born in Derby, and a nephew of the unfortunate general, 
while commanding the Constitution, fought the Guerriere 
off Nova Scotia and in half an hour the British ship was 
lying "a helpless hulk in the trough of heavy sea, rolling 
the muzzles of her guns under," showing the emptiness of 
the English taunt at an enemy whose navy was a "few fir- 
built frigates, manned by a handful of bastards and outlaws. " 
Another Connecticut man who was of decided service in the 
defense of the states upon the lakes was Captain Isaac 
Chauncey, who had spent his early life in the merchant 
service. 

By vote of the legislature, a state corps was organized 
under the command of General Nathanael Terry, and a state 
militia of fifteen thousand men was equipped to resist inva- 
sion. In the spring of 18 13, a British fleet passed through 
the Sound and established a blockade. The militia met at 
New London, and Decatur was bottled up in the Thames 
River. In April, 18 14, a body of British sailors and marines 
landed at a point six miles above Saybrook and destroyed 
some shipping. The citizens of Stonington were in constant 
alarm, and on August 9, 18 14, Sir Thomas Hardy entered the 
harbor with four warships and several barges and launches; 
anchoring within two miles of the town he told the people 
that he proposed to destroy it, giving them one hour 
to remove the women and children. Horrified yet un- 
daunted, preparations were made to give battle to the enemy, 
and the bombardment began at eight in the evening. Shells 
and rockets fell upon the village, and began to set fire to the 
buildings; the Stonington volunteers took possession of the 
peninsula; erecting a redoubt, they put in position a six and 
an eighteen pounder, and began to hurl solid balls, sinking 
one of the barges, and compelling the retreat of the bomb- 
ship with her consorts. At sunrise August 10, the bombard- 
ment began afresh, and Captain Jeremiah Holmes, a good 
gunner from Mystic, handled the eighteen-pounder with such 



334 -A. History of Connecticut 

effect that the brig Dispatch was forced to cut her cables to 
avoid sinking. At that juncture the ammunition on shore 
gave out. Some of the timid citizens advocated surrender, 
but Captain Holmes shouted " No !" Pointing to the ensign, 
he said, "That flag shall never come down while I am alive. " 
He nailed it to the staff. Soon a supply of ammunition came 
from New London, and the British were kept at bay until 
the arrival of General Isham with a force of militia, relieving 
the strain. On March II, 1815, the British fleet left Long 
Island Sound, having maintained a blockade for over two 
years. 

Prominent among those who brought on the war was 
Peter B. Porter, who was born in Salisbury, went to Congress 
from Buffalo, and after hostilities began, resigned his seat 
to lead a body of Iroquois Indians ; later serving with dis- 
tinction at Chippewa, Lundy's Lane, and Lake Erie. In 
1 81 5, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the army 
but declined. General Porter received a gold medal from 
Congress and a sword from the New York legislature. 
There were more than eleven thousand officers and privates 
from Connecticut who took part in this war. 

There was a singular development of the times which 
must be described, though no one is proud of it now — 
the Hartford Convention. There was a growing dissatis- 
faction in New England with Madison's administration, in 
carrying on the war ; some of the governors of New England 
refused to order out the militia on receipt of the president's 
proclamation asking for troops; the government declined 
to pay the soldiers when called out, basing its refusal on 
the ground that the forces had not been placed under the 
command of the United States general in charge of that 
department. This feeling of enmity to the government was 
strengthened by differences between the people of New 
England and those of the South, on the question of slave 
representation in Congress. The administration was largely 
controlled by Southern influence, and since New England 



The Second "War for Independence 335 

was the manufacturing center of the country, the embargo 
of 10)7, bore heavily upon her business interests. In laying 
this embargo, President Jefferson was moved by the highest 
motives. It was a retaliation directed against the aggres- 
sions of France and England. The president recommended, 
and Congress directed, that there should be an embargo 
upon all American vessels, and upon all foreign vessels with 
cargoes shipped from our ports after December 22, 1807. 
Commerce was to be abandoned, owing to the idea that 
foreign nations would suffer from loss of American supplies. 
But the embargo failed, being irritating to the citizens, 
paralyzing many lines of business, and provoking foreigners 
to laughter or to severe measures. Napoleon ordered the 
confiscation of all American vessels in French ports, April 
17, 1808; Great Britain prohibited the exportation of Ameri- 
can produce December 21, 1808. After the embargo was 
repealed in 1809, non-intercourse acts followed, with a con- 
tinuance of business ruin and widespread discontent, es- 
pecially in New England. Town meetings, state legislatures, 
and even courts declared against the constitutionality of 
the embargo measures. The language used by federalists of 
Massachusetts suggested a dissolution of the Union. Even 
the Indians on the frontiers added to the strain, because the 
exclusion of their furs from the continental markets reduced 
them to poverty, and British interference stirred them to 
hostility. It was a time of bitterness and want wherever 
people depended for their living on commerce. Ship- 
wrights were idle; pitch, tar, hemp, flour, bacon, salt fish, 
and flaxseed became drugs on shippers' hands. One writer 
said, "The act ought to be called the 'DambargoV In 
some places smuggling was resorted to. 

On January 6, 1809, Congress passed the Force Act which 
made it a high misdemeanor to carry specie or goods out of 
the United States. It authorized the president to use the 
army to enforce the act on land, and equip thirty vessels to 
enforce the law on the coast. When Governor Trumbull was 



336 A. History of Connecticut 

asked for the use of the militia, he flatly refused to obey. 
He wrote that he knew of no authority for complying with 
the order of General Dearborn who had served a notice 
under the orders of President Jefferson. He promptly 
assembled the legislature, and told it that when the National 
Legislature oversteps the bounds prescribed by the Con- 
stitution, it becomes the duty of the states to interpose and 
protect the rights of the people from the assumed powers of 
Congress. His refusal to afford military aid was severely 
felt, for it was apparent that if the embargo was to be en- 
forced, it must be with the sword. 

In that time of agitation there was much suffering and 
hardship, because of the immense fines and forfeitures to 
compel obedience. Heavy bonds were exacted; collectors 
were opposed almost as resolutely as were those before the 
Revolution. Some were sued in the state courts, some 
resigned. The courts could find no case against the smug- 
glers. At last, the New England states openly threatened 
nullification. With the going out of the Jefferson adminis- 
tration there was a repeal of the embargo; the shipping in- 
terests began to quicken; merchandise was hurried forward. 
Disappointments soon followed, when the negotiations of the 
British ministers at Washington were repudiated by the 
British government, and Congress reimposed the embargo 
in the shape of a "non-interference act. " The Federalists of 
Connecticut had welcomed the renewal of trade with England, 
and when the sudden reversal came, they accused the govern- 
ment at Washington of insincerity and unwillingness to 
settle the difficulties between the two nations. 

All this dissatisfaction with the Embargo, the method of 
conducting the war, and jealousy between the North and the 
South found expression in the so-called Hartford Convention, 
which assembled in the city hall on December 15, 18 14. 
There were twelve delegates from Massachusetts, seven 
from Connecticut, three from Rhode Island, two from New 
Hampshire, and on December 28, Vermont sent a delegate. 



THe Second "War for Independence 337 

A permanent organization was effected, with the choice of 
George Cabot of Boston as president, and Theodore D wight 
of Hartford as secretary. The members were as a rule men 
of ability, learning, and high standing, and they were in 
session within closed doors for twenty days. There were 
wild rumors of treasonable proceedings, and the excitement 
was increased by the fact that the Massachusetts legislature 
appropriated a million dollars toward the equipment of ten 
thousand men to be under the state control. Disturbed by 
reports, Congress ordered a regiment of soldiers to assemble 
at Hartford to watch the conclave, but military demon- 
strations were limited to a squad of idlers marching around 
the hall, with fifers playing the Rogue's March. Later, the 
convention was considered a treasonable gathering and every 
man who took part in it became a political outcast. General 
Jackson said that if he had commanded the military depart- 
ment where the convention met, he would have punished 
the three principal leaders. The lengthy report contained 
resolutions, advising the states to exclude slaves from the 
basis of representation, to prohibit Congress from lay- 
ing an embargo for more than sixty days, to interdict inter- 
course with foreign nations without a two-thirds vote of 
both houses, to require a two-thirds vote to declare war, 
to make the president eligible for only one term, to forbid 
electing presidents for two successive terms from the same 
state, and to adopt measures to prevent the action of enlist- 
ment laws of the United States. 

These seditious indications in New England depressed the 
administration, and a committee was appointed to present 
the resolutions of the Hartford gathering in Congress for the 
purpose of securing constitutional amendments. Early in 
February this committee was in Washington to negotiate 
with the government, but Jackson's victory in January at 
New Orleans, together with good news from the negotiations 
at Ghent, made all who took part in the Hartford Convention 
a laughing-stock. The overthrow of the Federalist plans 



338 .A History of Connecticut 

to coerce the National Government was so complete that no 
man who was connected with the movement ever recovered 
his standing in political life. The signing of the treaty with 
England after eight years of commercial depression and 
widespread hardship, together with the fact that American 
seamen had been a match for the sea-dogs of England, 
ushered in a new and powerful era of prosperity and political 
freedom. 



CHAPTER XXV 
THE CONSTITUTION OF 1818 

THE successful issue of the second war with England 
helped to clear the air, and prepare the way for the 
free play of the energies which were rousing themselves 
within the state for a vigorous industrial, philanthropic and 
commercial life. We are prepared to expect a ripe fruitage 
of political ideas after the long discipline in which men of 
large caliber had a part. We must again glance at the 
beginning of the civil freedom of Connecticut, in the adop- 
tion of the Fundamental Orders, January 14, 1639, when 
the people of Windsor, Hartford, and Wethersfleld became 
"associated and conjoined to be as one Public State or 
Commonwealth," for the establishment of "an orderly and 
decent government, according to God and dispose of the 
affairs of the people at all seasons as occasion shall require. " 
The charter of 1662, and the declaration of state independ- 
ence in 1776, were outgrowths of this, and at length there 
came a famous and crowning day, when the constitutional 
convention met at Hartford, on August 26, 18 18, to conduct 
the state still further in constitutional evolution. The 
royal charter of Charles II., while remarkable for its freedom 
from royal prerogatives, was more favorable to the aristoc- 
racy and landed proprietors than to artisans and laborers. 
When the United States cut loose from the crown, it was 
declared by the General Assembly that the government of 
the state should continue as established by the charter, so 

339 



340 .A. History of Connecticut 

far as would be consistent with independence. The royal 
charter was reaffirmed by the revision of the laws in 1794, 
though a number of legal minds had attacked the validity of 
the document, and had insisted that there was no civil 
constitution. 

We have seen that from the start there was a close union 
of church and state, with plenty of domineering on the part 
of the church, and that there gradually developed the con- 
viction that there were other people in the commonwealth 
besides the Congregational ists, who deserved legislative 
favor equally with the standing order. In 1770, a law was 
passed that, 

no persons in this colony professing the Christian Protestant 
religion, who soberly and conscientiously dissent from the wor- 
ship and ministry established or approved by the laws of this 
Colony, and attend public worship by themselves, shall incur any 
of the penalties ... for not attending the worship and ministry 
so established on the Lord's day, or on account of their meeting 
together by themselves on said day for the worship of God in a 
way agreeable to their consciences. 

The question of religious liberty was persistently and earn- 
estly discussed and agitated, and in May, 1777, the Assem- 
bly passed an act of toleration, " for exempting those Persons 
in this State, commonly styled Separates, from taxes for the 
support of the established ministry, and building and repair- 
ing meeting houses," on condition that they should annually 
lodge with the clerk of the Established Society, wherein 
they lived, a certificate, vouching for their attendance 
upon and support of their own form of worship. Said 
certificate was to be signed by the minister, elder, or deacon 
of the church which " they ordinarily did attend." This 
was a long step forward, but it was not satisfactory; it 
was humiliating to the petitioners, and there were some- 
times petty obstacles put in their way by the Churchmen in 
power. By degrees, the broader-minded people came to see 



THe Constitution of 1818 341 

that the Saybrook Platform was outliving its usefulness, and 
in the first edition of the "Laws and Acts of the State of 
Connecticut," appearing in 1784, all reference to the Say- 
brook Platform was omitted. It was ordered that every one 
who, for any trivial reason, absented himself from public 
worship on the Lord's day should pay a fine of fifty cents. 
All religious bodies recognized by law were given permis- 
sion to manage their temporal affairs as freely as did the 
churches of the Establishment. Dissenters were even per- 
mitted to join religious societies in adjoining states, pro- 
vided the place of worship were not too far distant to attend 
regularly. To these terms was affixed the sole condition of 
presenting a certificate of membership, signed by an officer 
of the church of which the dissenter was a member, and that 
the certificate should be lodged with the clerk of the Estab- 
lished society wherein the dissenter dwelt. All strangers 
entering the state were allowed a choice of religious de- 
nominations, but while undecided were to pay taxes "to the 
society lowest on the list." In any question of doubt after 
the death of a head of a household, the society of which the 
head belonged determined the church home of the members 
of the household, unless the certificates of all the dissenting 
members were on file. If persons were undecided, when the 
time of choice had elapsed, and they had not presented 
certificates, they were counted as members of the Estab- 
lishment. As we have seen, toleration extended, oppression 
ceased, and Sandemanians, Shakers, Universalists and 
Seventh-day Baptists entered the state. 

The Saybrook Platform was not annulled by the Assembly, 
but was gradually and decidedly sloughed off, as outgrown 
and worse than useless, but dissenters felt the humiliation of 
giving the required certificates and acknowledging a certain 
supremacy of the Congregational Church ; they also resented 
the favoritism shown by the government in its preference of 
members of the Establishment for civil, judicial, and military 
offices. 



342 -A. History of Connecticut 

The evolution of political freedom in Connecticut was 
aided by the general disintegration of political parties which 
took place throughout the United States from 1783, to 1787. 
After the Constitution was adopted, the Federalist party- 
lost a large part of its reason for existence, and there emerged 
an Anti-Federalist party, an out-party. This is sometimes 
said to have been born in 1783, out of opposition to an act of 
Congress voting five years' full pay to the Revolutionary 
officers, and to the formation of the Order of Cincinnati. 
Both these measures touched the principle of caste, which 
prevailed in New England as well as in Europe. The leading 
Federalists preferred to concentrate power in the hands of 
the few, rather than to trust the great body of citizens. 
The Established Church and the Federalists were so closely 
allied that they were familiarly known as the Standing Order. 
Many of the dissenters were for a time good Federalists, but 
they passed over to the Democratic-Republicans, when that 
party began to make clear their demands for a broader 
suffrage and full religious liberty. The Federal Standing 
Order continued to claim legal favors, political offices, and 
the prizes of judicial, military and civil life, not merely 
because such honors were enjoyed, but also because it was 
felt by the conservatives that the body politic must be 
guarded by a state church. 

An able and aggressive critic of the Establishment was 
Judge Zephaniah Swift of Windham, a thorough Federalist, 
and a powerful opponent of the law which fined a man for 
absence from church, unless excused for weighty reasons, 
and of the custom of taxing every one for the support of 
some form of recognized public worship, even though the 
taxpayer had no personal interest in that which he was 
compelled to pay for. This sturdy opponent of the union of 
church and state, though taunted by many as a free-thinker, 
had some sympathizers in the Establishment. The coming 
of the Rev. John Leland from Virginia to New London was 
favorable to the evolution. In Virginia the church and 



TKe Constitution of 1818 343 

state separated in 1785, and Leland had seen the benefits 
following that event. His book, The Right of Conscience 
Inalienable, put clearly before the Connecticut people the 
question of establishment or disestablishment, and he also 
attacked the charter of Charles II., as being in no true sense 
the constitution of the state, because it had never been 
accepted by vote .of the people. He arraigned a union of 
church and state that needed a legislature to support re- 
ligion. He said that other states had found it unnecessary; 
that it tended to produce evil, ignorance, superstition, 
persecution, lying, hypocrisy and weakness; that govern- 
ment had no more to do with religion than with mathematics. 
Influenced by such arguments, and by the public opinion 
they created, the Assembly in October, 1791, repealed the 
certificate law, passed six months earlier, and passed a law 
to allow dissenters to write their own sign-off s, requiring the 
signers to file their papers with the clerk of the Established 
society wherein they lived. Another statute was passed at 
that time to impose a fine of from six to twelve shillings for 
neglect of public fasts and thanksgivings. 

At last, the inertia of the people was overcome, and they 
came to see that the mixture of legislative, judicial and 
executive elements, known as the General Assembly, with 
its control over religion and its caste qualifications, while 
fairly satisfactory so long as the community consisted of a 
few thousand souls, was incapable of meeting the diverse 
interests of a growing industrial population. There were 
party tilts over new towns, and the unequal growth of 
some of the older ones. The Council, or Upper House, re- 
tained the same members for many years, since experience 
was regarded as an important asset. The clergy also got 
together before elections, talked matters over, and then 
directed the vote. The Council had become almost a 
Privy Council; until 1807, it was the Supreme Court, with 
control over all cases of appeal, civil and criminal. Its 
twelve members were mostly, if not entirely, lawyers, with 



344 -A History of Connecticut 

vast power of patronage over members of the Lower House, 
and also over the militia, whose officers were appointed by 
the General Assembly. Moreover, since the united action 
of the two houses was necessary to pass or repeal a law, 
much important legislation depended on a majority of 
seven. Besides all this, the Republican judges, at the open- 
ing of the nineteenth century, complained that they were 
not on an equal footing with the Federals in the state 
tribunals. The new Anti-Federal party, or Democratic- 
Republican party, as it called itself from 1792, caught 
inspiration as well as name from the French Republic; its 
recruits were largely from Methodists and Baptists, though 
there were Episcopalians who joined it, and some of the 
more open-minded Federalists. 

It was not till 1795, that the Standing Order had a great 
leader. When the accomplished and powerful Timothy 
Dwight became president of Yale, the conservatives had a 
captain, scholarly, versatile, and energetic, who became 
equally celebrated in religion and in politics. Pope Dwight 
his enemies called him, naming the ministers who followed 
him bishops, and the Council or senators his Twelve Car- 
dinals. President Dwight determined to combine the 
activities that could be used to overthrow the forces 
which threatened church and state. The election of 
Adams and Jefferson in 1797, spurred both parties. 
On the Sunday following the news of the election, the 
Rev. Jedidiah Champion of Litchfield, an ardent Fed- 
eralist, prayed fervently for the president-elect, and 
closed with the words, "O Lord! wilt Thou bestow upon 
the vice-president a double portion of Thy grace, for Thou 
knowest he needs it." The Connecticut Republicans did 
not organize their party till 1800, when they began to urge 
the oppressed dissenters to accept their platform. Their 
leader was Pierpont Edwards, son of the famous Jonathan 
Edwards, and a recently appointed judge of the United 
States District Court. He was the maternal uncle of Presi- 



THe Constitution of 1818 345 

dent D wight, the great leader of the Standing Order. 
Another strong leader of the Federals was Theodore D wight, 
brother of the president of Yale, editor of the Hartford 
Courant, and he led the civilians. The two Bishops, Samuel 
and Abraham, father and son, were both doughty champions 
of the Republicans. Samuel Bishop was senior deacon in 
the North Church of New Haven, justice of peace, town 
clerk, and mayor. He was also chief judge of the Court of 
Common Pleas, and sole judge of Probate. Abraham Bishop 
was a lawyer and clerk of court. He was a man of careless 
theology and exaggerated habits of speech. He would have 
been called a Unitarian a little later, when Unitarianism was 
regarded as a crime, and according to Connecticut statutes 
was classed with atheism, polytheism, and apostacy. 

Abraham Bishop was honored with the Phi Beta Kappa 
oration at the Yale commencement in 1800, and instead of a 
polished literary effort, he wrote an address on "The Extent 
and Power of Political Delusions, " a campaign document. 
The committee, to which it was sent in August, refused it at 
the eleventh hour, and appointed another orator. The 
same paper that announced the change in orators said that 
the refused address would be given to all who cared to listen, 
at the White Church that same evening, and that copies 
were ready for distribution through the state. Bishop had 
an audience of fifteen hundred, and they heard a trumpet- 
blast. The debates which followed were fierce and relent- 
less. Noah Webster replied to Bishop by "A Rod for the 
Fool's Back." John Leland published his Hartford speech, 
"A Blow at the Root, " and his "High Flying Churchman. " 
Bishop published "Connecticut Republicanism," in which 
he said: 

Christianity has suffered more by the attempts to unite 
church and state than by all the deistical writings, yet the men 
who denounce them are pronounced atheists, and no proof of 
their atheism is required, but their opposition to Federal meas- 



346 .A History of Connecticut 

ures. The clergyman preaches politics, the civilian prates of 
orthodoxy, and if any man refuse to join their coalition, they 
endeavor to hunt him down to the tune of "The Church is in 
danger." The Trinitarian doctrine is established by laws, and 
the denial of it is placed in the rank of felony. Break the league 
of church and state which first subjugates your consciences, 
then, treating your understanding as galley slaves, robs you of 
religion and civil freedom. Thirty thousand men are against the 
union of church and state. Thirty thousand more men, deprived 
of voting because they are not rich or learned enough, are ready 
to join them. 

In 1803, John Leland, representing four thousand Baptist 
communicants and twenty thousand attendants, sent out a 
plea, insisting that since thirteen states had granted religious 
liberty, it was time for Connecticut to take action. In 1804, 
John Strong of Norwich founded the True Republican to 
advance Republican principles. From 1792, the Windham 
Herald was the organ of the telling blows of Judge Swift, 
the powerful foe of union of church and state. On May 
II, 1804, Bishop said in Hartford: 

Connecticut has no constitution. We still live under the old 
jumble of legislative, executive and judicial powers called a 
charter. We still suffer from the old restrictions on the right to 
vote, we are still ruled by the whims of seven men. Twelve 
make the Council, seven form a majority, and in the hands of 
these seven are all powers, legislative, executive and judicial. 
On them more than half of the House of Assembly is dependent 
for re-appointment as justices, judges, or for promotion in the 
militia. By their breath, are, each year, brought into official life 
six judges of the Superior Court, twenty-eight of the probate, 
forty of county courts, and five hundred and ten justices of the 
peace, and all the sheriffs. Who may be freemen? No one who 
does not have a freehold estate worth seven dollars a year, or a 
personal estate on the tax list of one hundred and thirty-four 
dollars. We demand a constitution that shall separate the legis- 
lative, executive and judicial power, extend the freeman's oath 



THe Constitution of 1818 347 

to men who labor on the highways, who serve in the militia, who 
pay small taxes, but possess no estates. 

A general meeting was called by the Republican general 
committee, of which Pierpont Edwards was chairman. It 
was held in New Haven, August 29, 1804. Ninety-seven 
towns sent delegates, and Major William Judd of Farming- 
ton was chairman. A series of resolutions was passed 
in favor of a new constitution, and ten thousand copies dis- 
tributed. The fall election of 1804, was lost by the Republi- 
cans, but there was a wide sympathy with the defeated 
party. The Federal leaders in the legislature of October, 
1804, resolved to punish the defeated Republicans. Five 
of the justices of the peace who had attended the New Haven 
convention were summoned before the legislature to show 
why they did not deserve to forfeit their commissions. 
What right had they to attack a constitution they had 
sworn to uphold? Edwards spoke for the justices, and 
Daggett for the Federals, declaring the New Haven ad- 
dress an outrage upon decency. The following day, the 
commissions were revoked. The fight was on. Pulpits 
became lecture platforms; there was an insistent plea that 
since religion preserved morals, it should have the support 
of the state. A second convention was held in Litchfield in 
August, 1806, and its criticisms were more decided. For 
several years, so intrenched was the Federal party, so 
influential was it, because of several thousand offices within 
its patronage, that the Republican increase was slow. The 
ministers enjoyed taking a hand in politics, and were skillful 
at the wires. By 181 1, the lawyers began to work against 
the ministers, who were planning to follow the method of the 
party machine, and make Lieutenant-Governor Treadwell 
governor, but Roger Griswold, an able man, and a favorite 
with the lawyers, was chosen. The lawyers, in talking 
about it, said: "We have served the clergy long enough; we 
must take another man, and they must look out for them- 



348 .A History of Connecticut 

selves." After the war of 1812, the ministers withdrew 
somewhat from politics; the Episcopalians joined forces 
with the new party of Republicans; the Methodists and 
Baptists added their influence, and the demand was made 
that "legal religion" be abolished, and "the adulterous 
union of church and state be forever dissolved." 

A meeting was held at New Haven to cement an alliance 
between the Democrats and those of the Federalists who 
were opposed to the "Standing Order," and were "friends 
of toleration and reform." Oliver Wolcott, Federalist of 
the Federalists, was nominated for governor and Jonathan 
Ingersoll, a Federalist, an eminent New Haven lawyer, a 
prominent Episcopalian, was nominated for lieutenant-gov- 
ernor. The result was that the Tolerationists failed in 18 16, 
to seat Wolcott, but Judge Ingersoll, with the help of the 
Federalists, was elected lieutenant-governor. The dimin- 
ished majority of the Federalist governor, John Cotton 
Smith, foreshadowed the political revolution so near at 
hand, and the triumph of the new political party, first called 
American, and afterwards, American and Toleration. At 
the session of the legislature in October, 18 16, the Federalists 
adopted conciliatory measures to strengthen their position. 
There was a balance due the state from the general govern- 
ment, and the Assembly voted to pass an "act for the 
support of literature and religion." One- third was given 
to Congregational societies; one-seventh to the Episcopal- 
ians; one-eighth to the Baptists; one-twelfth to the Method- 
ists, and one-seventh to Yale College. The result was 
more decided discontent, and even hostility. The Quak- 
ers were assumed to be satisfied with their recent exemp- 
tions from military duty upon the payment of a small 
tax; Sandemanians and other insignificant sects were sup- 
posed to be conciliated by the act of the preceding April, 
which repealed, after a duration of nearly one hundred 
and eighty years, the fine of fifty cents for absence from 
church on Sunday. The people were at last free to wor- 



THe Constitution of 1818 349 

ship as they chose, or omit worship altogether. They 
had yet to obtain equal privileges for all denominations, and 
exemption from enforced support of religion. The passage 
of this bill was universally condemned by every dissenter 
and political come-outer, and the storm of protest was sharp 
and violent. The campaign issue of the spring of 18 17, was, 
"whether freemen shall be tolerated in the free exercise of 
their religious and political rights." Oliver Wolcott was 
elected with a majority of six hundred votes, and Ingersoll 
was reelected lieutenant-governor by an easy majority. 

Oliver Wolcott, the father of the Constitution of 18 18, 
who was the third member of that family called to the chair 
of governor, was born in Litchfield in 1760, was aide-de- 
camp to his father in the Continental Army, succeeded 
Hamilton as secretary of the treasury, was the first presi- 
dent of the Bank of North America; founding, in company 
with his brother, large woolen mills near Torrington. In 
his inaugural, Governor Wolcott placed before the Assembly 
the questions soon to be discussed in the convention of 1818. 
There was need of wise statesmanship; mills were having a 
hard time in the business depression, farmers were burdened 
by taxes on stock, dairy products, and tillage; money was 
scarce; the majority had a scanty living; trades were few 
and wages low. A farm hand averaged fifty cents a day, 
paid in provisions. Women of all work drudged for fifty 
cents a week, while a farm overseer received a salary of 
seventy dollars a year. The wealthy had small incomes. 
It was said that the rich and prosperous Pierpont Edwards, 
the eminent lawyer of New Haven, had an income of two 
thousand dollars a year from his practice. 

The Assembly had encroached upon the courts; in 18 15, 
it had set aside the conviction of a murderer, and the judge, 
Zephaniah Swift, appealed to the public to vindicate his 
judicial character, insisting that the "Legislature should 
never encroach on the Judiciary, otherwise, the Legislature 
would become one great arbitration, that would engulf all 



35° -A. History of Connecticut 

the courts of law, and sovereign discretion would be the only 
rule of decision, — a state of things equally favorable to 
lawyers and criminals." The committees to which the 
governor's suggestions were referred did little. A barren 
act of toleration was passed, retaining the certificate clause. 
Determined to carry the day in 1818, the winter pre- 
vious to election was a time of strenuous agitation; at the 
spring elections the reform ticket won, seating Wolcott in 
the governor's chair again, giving an anti-Federal major- 
ity in both Senate and House. It was voted that the 
freemen should assemble in town meetings on the following 
fourth of July to elect as many delegates as representatives 
in the Assembly, to meet in a convention at Hartford, August 
26, 18 1 8, to form a constitution. Members of all creeds and 
of no creeds met at that place; seven of them were in the 
convention that ratified the Constitution of the United 
States, and such venerable Federalists were there as Stephen 
M. Mitchell, Jesse Root, and John Treadwell. Earnest 
leaders of the Established Order were there, as well as the 
powerful men of the new party of Toleration and Reform, 
whose founder, Pierpont Edwards, the youngest son of 
Jonathan Edwards, brought his profound legal lore to the 
convention. Alexander Wolcott of Middletown, the founder 
and father of the Jefferson school of politics in the state, was 
there, and Oliver Wolcott was chosen to preside. 

A committee of twenty-four, three from every county, 
was appointed to draft a constitution, and five of these were 
of the Federalist party. The debates were long and thorough, 
but in the end the Toleration party triumphed, winning for 
the people all that had been promised, securing "the same 
and equal powers, rights, and privileges to all denominations 
of Christians." The constitution of 1818, was modeled 
after the old charter, and contained much of that famous 
and invaluable instrument, but it declared more clearly the 
principles of personal liberty. It established the rights of 
suffrage on personal qualifications, discarding property con- 




Oliver Wolcott, Jr. (1760-1833), President of Constitutional Convention of 
1818 and Governor 1817-1827 

From a Painting in the Memoriaf Hall of the Connecticut State Library by George F. 
Wright after the Original by Stuart 



THe Constitution of 1818 351 

ditions. It reorganized the courts, separating them from the 
legislature, reducing the number of judges nearly one-half, 
and in the higher courts continuing them in office until 
seventy years old, unless impeached. Amendments to the 
constitution were provided for. The legislature was to con- 
sist of two branches; the upper to be known as the Senate, 
to consist of fourteen members; the lower branch to be 
called the House of Representatives; the towns, being the 
unit of organization, retained their former number of dele- 
gates without regard to population. There were to be 
annual elections, and the meetings were to be held alter- 
nately in Hartford and New Haven, thus saving, as was 
estimated, fourteen thousand dollars a year. The governor 
was given the veto power, though a majority of the legis- 
lature could override his action. The union of church and 
state was dissolved, and all bodies were put on the same 
level of self-support. There were other minor changes; 
Methodist, Baptist, and Universalist ministers had been 
practically excluded from marrying people, and that injus- 
tice was remedied. Formerly, Yale College was the only 
literary institution favored by the legislature ; under the new 
rule Trinity College received a charter, despite strong 
opposition; and one was granted later to the Methodists at 
Middletown. Teaching the catechism, which had been 
enforced by law, was made optional, and Congregational 
ministers stepped down from the place of political power. 
The lower magistracy was distributed as equally as possible 
among the various political and religious interests, and the 
judges in the higher courts were appointed for other reasons 
than that they were members of the Standing Order. 

The victory of religious and political liberty was com- 
plete. Article VII. of the constitution reads as follows: 

It being the right and duty of all men to worship the Supreme 
Being, the great Creator and Preserver of the universe, in the 
mode most consistent with the dictates of their consciences; no 



352 A History of Connecticut 

person shall be compelled to join or support, nor by law be classed 
with any congregation, church or religious association. And 
each and every society or denomination of Christians in this 
state shall have and enjoy the same and equal rights and privi- 
leges; and shall have power and authority to support and main- 
tain the ministers or teachers of their respective denominations, 
and to build and repair houses for public worship, by a tax on the 
members of the respective societies only, or in any other manner. 
If any person shall choose to separate himself from the society 
or denomination of Christians to which he may belong, and shall 
leave a written notice thereof with the clerk of said society, he 
shall thereupon be no longer liable for any further expenses, 
which may be incurred by said society. 

The Senate was to be chosen by districts, which at first 
numbered twelve; since 1828, not less than eighteen or 
more than twenty-four, and since 1905, not less than twenty- 
four or more than thirty-six. The House of Representatives, 
which in 1639, had four deputies from each of the three 
towns, was to have two electors from each town as then 
practiced, and in case of the incorporation of a new town, 
it was to have but one representative. As since amended, 
every town of five thousand is entitled to two representatives, 
and every other to its present number, which is never more 
than two. In case of the incorporation of a new town, it is 
entitled to a representative, if it has twenty-five hundred 
inhabitants, otherwise it is to be regarded as a part of the 
town from which it was taken, and shall be an election dis- 
trict of such town. Until 1875, the legislature met in 
Hartford and New Haven in alternate years, since then, 
Hartford has been the sole capital; since 1875, senators and 
representatives have held office for two years. The General 
Assembly now holds stated sessions once in two years be- 
ginning on the Wednesday following the first Monday in Janu- 
ary. Voters were to be white male citizens of the United 
States, who had gained residence in the state, attained the 
age of twenty-one, and resided in the town for six months ; to 



THe Constitution of 1818 353 

have a freehold estate of seven dollars in the state, or shall 
have performed military duty for a year. This has been 
amended to give the ballot to every male citizen of the 
United States who shall have resided in this state for a year, 
and in the town six months; who can read in the English 
language any article of the Constitution or any section of the 
statutes; who shall sustain a good moral character, and take 
such oath as may be prescribed by law. 

In view of the inequality in the representation in the 
House of Representatives, since a town of less than a hundred 
voters can be represented in the legislature, and the largest 
city can have no more than two representatives, a constitu- 
tional convention was held in 1902, to secure a reapportion- 
ment of the membership of the House through an amendment 
of the constitution, but nothing came of it, and the Con- 
necticut town continues to be a unit of the government more 
powerful than its population implies. 

After this sketch of the development of religious and 
political liberty, culminating in the constitution of 1818, 
little of comment is needed. The growth was slow, as might 
be expected from the conservative and deliberate nature 
of the people, whose disposition reminds one sometimes of 
the dog in the manger. But by degrees the victory was won, 
and the new constitution, giving expression to the principles 
which had been within the life of the people from the begin- 
ning, leaving behind the decaying remainders of an outworn 
past, became the expression of the best thought of the new 
age, and made possible the larger service of the common- 
wealth, as it passed out into a more diversified, and not less 
exacting era. 
23 



CHAPTER XXVI 

INVENTIONS, DISCOVERIES, AND INDUSTRIES OF 
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 

WE have seen that from the beginning there was a 
decided disposition on the part of the people of 
Connecticut toward invention and industries, which prom- 
ised domestic comfort, civic advance, and financial return. 
The early environment was so stern, the struggle for a living 
so strenuous, the wars so frequent and so exhausting, and 
the time required to learn about the resources of the common- 
wealth so well filled, that it was not until the settlement was 
nearly two centuries old that the remarkable genius of the 
people for initiating large and powerful manufacturing 
enterprises had free play. The change of the industrial life 
of the state from a narrow, retail method to wholesale 
combinations was not fully under way until after 1 8 12, and 
the decade of the greatest relative growth was from i860, 
to 1870, when the products almost doubled. From 1850, to 
1900, the population increased one hundred and forty-five 
per cent., and wage-earners in factories two hundred and 
forty-eight per cent. With the opening century primitive 
industries were passing, and home-made devices to fashion 
tools and clothing were yielding to manufactories, which 
were springing up on many a stream, as Yankee ingenuity 
learned to change iron, steel, brass, cotton, wool, silk, glass, 
ivory, and clay into all kinds of goods for ornament and use. 
Connecticut was recovering from the long, hard strain of the 

354 



Inventions, Discoveries, Industries 355 

Revolution, and was directing her energies to the application 
of power to machinery for the building up of fortunes, and 
the development of the rich resources on every side. The 
training of the plain, frugal life of the earlier days had 
been severe and valuable; the eye and hand of the farmer's 
boy had been educated in the rude and varied school of 
practical mechanics. Times were growing easier, wages 
increasing, and land becoming more productive, as farmers 
learned to work it better, and enlarge the variety of produc- 
tions. Towns were increasing in size: the census of 1800, 
gave the state a population of two hundred and fifty-one 
thousand; Hartford and New Haven were cities, having 
been incorporated in 1784, but they were primitive and 
small; centers, with stage connection with New York and 
Boston, a weekly newspaper in each, and shops with 
varied goods. New Haven had the advantage over 
Hartford in its foreign commerce, which began to revive 
after the Revolution. Her Long Wharf, three thousand 
five hundred feet in length, product of lotteries, private 
enterprise, and state aid, was finished in 1802, and was the 
headquarters of foreign trade. With Yale College in the 
heart of the city, New Haven was moving into the front 
rank of the new life of the state. Her town poor were no 
longer sold at auction, and geese and cattle were banished 
from the Green, which was beginning to take on something 
of beauty. The city made an earnest but fruitless effort in 
1804, for public water-works; it was also making the begin- 
ning of a cemetery, to take the place of the doleful little 
burial-grounds, scattered through the different neighbor- 
hoods, after the ancient custom. 

With the agitation leading to the constitution of 1818, 
and the push received from that fine triumph, there came 
also the increased self-respect which followed the second 
war for independence. We find many tokens of efforts 
making here and there to introduce industries more profitable 
than raising corn, barley, and rye; and a decided momentum 



356 .A. History of Connecticut 

was given to the industrial advance by the passage of the 
Joint Stock Act of 1837, framed by Theodore Hinsdale, 
introducing the corporation in the form in which we know 
it — a principle copied in almost every other state, and by the 
English Limited Liability Act of 1855. The effect of this 
simple principle upon the modern industrial development 
of the world has been past calculation. With the opening 
century there came also machinery from Europe, and still 
more out of the skillful brains of the people. For some time 
the people preferred imported goods of more famous make 
and foreign label, but by 18 10, Connecticut had fourteen 
cotton mills, fifteen woolen mills, eight furnaces, forty-eight 
forges, and four brass foundries, besides many smaller 
establishments, such as tanneries, ropewalks, distilleries, 
glass-works, marble and brick works, potteries, boot and 
shoe shops, tin-plate mills, gunpowder mills and carriage 
manufactories. By 1849, there were fifty thousand seven 
hundred wage-earners, and the total value of manu- 
factured goods was over forty-seven million dollars a year. 
In the following fifty years, the goods increased in value 
to four hundred and ninety millions, and the gross value of 
the products per capita of the population from one hundred 
and twenty-seven to four hundred and forty dollars. In 
1909, there were four thousand two hundred and fifty 
manufactories, employing over two hundred and thirty- 
three thousand persons at an expense of more than one 
hundred and thirty -five million dollars, creating a net wealth 
of two hundred and thirty -three millions. 

Some of the earliest products of the forests and river 
banks were skins of muskrats and similar little animals, which 
were collected for fur and beaver hats, and the manufacture 
of hats for sale began in a modest way in Danbury in 1780. 
In those days of the Revolution there stood a little red build- 
ing at the northern edge of the village, where Zadoc Benedict, 
the owner of the shop, and the father of American hatting, 
carried on his industry, employing one journeyman and two 



Inventions, Discoveries, Industries 357 

apprentices, and the output of the shop was three hats per 
day. Soon after the Revolution other shops were estab- 
lished, and at the opening of the nineteenth century, hatting 
was the principal industry of Danbury, which now has 
establishments that turn out two hundred and fifty dozen 
hats per day, employing from three to five hundred opera- 
tives. There were in 1909, eighty establishments in the 
state for the manufacture of hats, employing nearly six 
thousand persons, and Connecticut stood second among the 
states in the industry. 

In 1793, Eli Terry went from South Windsor, his birth- 
place, to Northbury, then a part of Watertown, and began 
the manufacture of clocks; and in 1802, he began to use 
water-power. Terry had been educated by the best English 
clock-makers and he was quick to see what the people 
needed. He took out his first patent in 1797, and ten 
years later, he was manufacturing clocks by the thousands, 
making parts to gauge. In 18 14, he introduced the new 
and convenient mantel clock, which soon became popular. 
He also made town clocks, as the one for the Center Church 
in New Haven. In 181 8, Chauncy Jerome began the man- 
ufacture of brass clocks, in Plymouth, and he afterwards 
moved to Bristol, where he manufactured brass clocks. 
Three workmen could take brass in sheets, press it out, level 
it under the drop, cut the teeth, and make the wheels for five 
hundred clocks in a day. In 1844, Jerome began to make 
clocks in New Haven, and his successful business led to 
the forming of the New Haven Clock Company. In 1840, 
the value of clocks made in the state, almost entirely for the 
home market, was over a million dollars, and the manu- 
facturers began to look toward Europe. So low was the 
cost of production that the first clocks exported paid 
more than two thousand per cent, profit. The story goes 
that when Jerome, in 1842, shipped a consignment to 
England, the price at which the clocks were invoiced was 
so low that the custom house officers there, suspecting 



35$ -A. History of Connecticut 

undervaluation, used their right to take the cargo at its 
invoice value, which pleased the clock-makers and they 
shipped another cargo, which met a similar fate, and when 
the third arrived the officers decided to go out of the clock 
business. Seth Thomas, who was born in Wolcott in 1785, 
became associated with Eli Terry and Silas Hoadley in 1809, 
in making clocks. The following year he sold his interest 
and bought in Plymouth the site where the case shop is 
now, and began his famous manufactory. In 1853, the Seth 
Thomas Clock Company was organized at Thomaston, and 
it manufactures annually four hundred thousand clocks, fur- 
nishing employment for nearly one thousand persons. Of the 
sixteen establishments in the state in 1909, making time- 
pieces, nine manufactured clocks, and nearly three-fourths 
of the total output in the United States was made in Con- 
necticut, which stands first among the states in the value 
of clocks and watches manufactured. 

The pins before the Revolution were crude, being drawn 
from wire by hand, and the head was made by twisting fine 
wire around the end. About 1824, a machine was invented 
that made solid heads by driving a part of the pin into a 
countersunk hole. In 1831, J. S. Howe of New York per- 
fected a machine which made a pin by one operation; his 
most urgent need being of skillful mechanics, he turned to 
Connecticut men at work on brass clocks, and the manu- 
facture of pins began in Derby in 1835. Sixty-five per cent, 
of the pins and needles made in the United States are 
produced in this state. 

The making of clocks and pins made necessary the 
establishment of brass mills, and soon brass was drawn, cut, 
beaten, or twisted into various articles. In 1905, seventy- 
three per cent, of the rolling and manufacture of brass and 
copper in the country was done in this state, and the gross 
product was over seventy million dollars. In 1909, Con- 
necticut ranked first in the combined value of brass and 
bronze products. 




£• M 




oo (A 



Inventions, Discoveries, Industries 359 

The tinware industries, made famous by peddlers, who 
after the Revolution traveled to the Mississippi and through 
the South, increased to such an extent that after 18 15, 
single shops would send out from twenty to thirty wagons; 
in 1850, they were carrying clocks, copper, tin, and brass- 
ware, hats, shoes, combs, axes, buttons, and paper. The use 
of tin soon led the way to a demand for a better class of 
goods, and pewter, composed of four parts lead and one 
part English block tin, was introduced. Ashbel Griswold of 
Meriden and Hiram Yale of Wallingford were pioneers, and 
English workmen were imported by the latter to work a 
metal which was called britannia, a metal that would take 
a more durable polish than pewter, and the Yales became 
the largest manufacturers in the country of a large line of 
hollow ware. Other large firms started in Meriden about 
1850, and the Meriden Britannia Company produced large 
quantities of goods cast in molds ; before long the rolling of 
metals began, and in 1856, electroplating was introduced. 
In the early sixties, metal or nickel silver was substituted for 
britannia, and later, sterling silver has been much used. The 
invention of electroplating at Hartford in 1856, by Asa H. 
Williams and Simeon S. Rogers, was of decided value, and 
the business, which began in a cellar, graduated the following 
year into a factory, built for the purpose. So extensive is 
the silver industry in Meriden that it is called the Silver 
City. In 1909, there were thirty-one establishments in the 
state for the manufacture of silver and plated ware, employ- 
ing nearly seven thousand persons, and the combined 
products of the industry formed over one-third of the total 
value for the country. 

In the manufacture of machine screws, Connecticut 
ranks first in the United States, and the Hartford Machine 
Screw Company, organized in 1856, manufactures all sizes 
of screws, from those for the heaviest engine to watch screws 
so small that one hundred and twelve thousand six hundred 
and fifty-four of them weigh a pound. In metal-working 



360 .A. History of Connecticut 

machinery Connecticut is third in the amount of her products, 
and the manufacture of machines of a high grade is made 
possible by the invention of tools for accurate measurement, 
guaranteed to measure one fifty-one-thousandth of an inch. 
Bell-making began in this state late in the eighteenth cen- 
tury and it has become an important industry, furnishing 
more than two-thirds of the total production of the country. 
The establishments engaged in this are principally in 
Chatham and East Haddam. 

The introduction of lock-making in Connecticut is cred- 
ited to Stephen C. Bucknell, an Englishman, who settled in 
Watertown in 1832, and made locks by the English methods 
of hand labor. The business was taken up by Eli Terry, 
2d, and others; improved machinery and better styles of 
locks introduced; other firms combined, and in 1854, the 
Eagle Lock Company was formed. The company that has 
given Connecticut a world-wide fame is the Yale and 
Towne Manufacturing Company, which was located at 
Stamford in 1869, and the flat keyed lock, known as the 
Yale lock, is the invention of Linus Yale, Jr. This inven- 
tion marked an era in the manufacture of locks, substituting 
a small flat key and a light-weight lock for the cumbersome 
key and heavy lock for the heaviest door; giving addi- 
tional security against burglars, since the key openings are 
much smaller than in the old style lock. This company's 
vault door, with its time and combination lock and its 
automatic bolts, gives a large measure of security. Its 
buildings cover twenty acres, and it employs fourteen hun- 
dred operatives. 

The success of the rubber industry is traced to the 
inventive genius of Charles Goodyear, who was born in New 
Haven in 1800, was convinced of a heavenly call to dis- 
cover the way to make rubber a panacea for a thousand 
ills, and to stretch it to cover a host of needs. The prob- 
lem was to treat it so that heat would not soften it; while 
experimenting with rubber and sulphur, he accidentally 







o 







1 s 



Inventions, Discoveries, Industries 361 

learned how to vulcanize, and obtained his first patent for it 
in 1844. He pursued his investigations amid discourage- 
ments and poverty, and a man who was looking for him was 
told, "If you meet a man who has on a rubber cap, coat, 
stock, vest, and shoes, with a rubber purse without a cent 
in it, that is the man." He even suffered from the be- 
nighted law which put a man in jail for debt. It was in the 
winter of 1839-40, after ten years of hardship, that he dis- 
covered the process of vulcanizing, and it came to pass that 
rubber became cloth, parchment, ebony, ivory, shoes, gloves, 
and tires, to multiply comforts, exclude disease, cushion the 
rough places, and ease pain. He died in i860, deeply in debt, 
and some time after his death a verdict was given in his 
favor in the United States Supreme Court for three hundred 
and twenty thousand dollars. The process of solidifying 
rubber, making it capable of polish, and also of being 
molded into any desired form — the product called vulcan- 
ite or hard rubber — was patented by Nelson Goodyear, a 
brother of Charles; the discovery was accomplished by 
using an increased amount of sulphur, and subjecting the 
compound to a high temperature. The forms into which 
rubber and its compounds are wrought are legion ; one of the 
most extensive being rubber tires, of which the Hartford 
Rubber Works turns out fifteen hundred every day. In 
1842, a manufactory of rubber shoes was opened in New 
Haven. In 1847, the Haywood Rubber Company was 
organized at Colchester, with William A. Buckingham in 
charge of its financial management until his death. The 
capacity of the plant of ten thousand pairs of rubbers per 
day — the largest manufactory of its kind in the country — 
gave Connecticut the lead in that industry. 

The manufacture of firearms has long been a prominent 
industry of Connecticut, and the parent company was 
organized by Eli Whitney at Whitneyville. In 1858, this 
was absorbed into the Winchester Arms Company, of which 
the Winchester Repeating Arms Company is an outgrowth. 



362 .A. History of Connecticut 

When Eli Whitney failed to gain the profits of the cotton- 
gin, he turned his attention to the manufacture of arms, and 
undertook to supply the government with firearms though 
he had no facilities for making them, but he depended on 
Yankee ingenuity to devise machinery to make the parts by 
wholesale, and the Whitney ville factory was built. In 1835- 
36, Samuel Colt perfected his patents in England and 
America for a pistol with a rotary cylinder containing several 
chambers to discharge through a single barrel. The inven- 
tion of the ratchet came to Colt while a boy of fifteen, during 
a voyage to India. There was some delay in the introduc- 
tion of this revolver, as the government at first refused to 
adopt the weapon, but its efficiency was demonstrated in the 
Mexican and Seminole wars. In 1848, a plant was estab- 
lished in Hartford; the business increased rapidly with 
the opening of California and orders from foreign countries, 
so that in 1858, sixty thousand revolvers were made. In 
1904, exclusive of governmental establishments, almost four- 
fifths of the total value of the ammunition, and over one- 
fourth of the total value of firearms manufactured in the 
United States, were reported from Connecticut, which in 
1909, led all the other states in the total value of the products 
of the combined industries. 

The invention of the sewing-machine is traced to the 
ingenuity of Elias Howe, who was not a native of Connecti- 
cut, but served as a private in the War of the Rebellion 
from this state. Howe perfected his patent in 1846, but 
receiving no encouragement here, went to England to dispose 
of his right there. On his return he found that others had 
taken up and improved upon his invention, which made a 
lock stitch. Wheeler and Wilson at Bridgeport carried the 
machine to finer issues, and their works cover eight acres and 
employ twelve hundred men. Connecticut is exceeded only 
by New Jersey in the manufacture of sewing-machines. 

The woolen industries of the state are extensive, and it 
was largely through the enterprise of David Humphrey 




Eli Whitney (1765-1825) 

From the Painting by C. B. King 



Inventions, Discoveries, Industries 363 

that these manufactures were placed on a solid basis. While 
Humphrey was a resident of the Spanish court, he improved 
the breed of native sheep by introducing Merino rams, and, 
in 1805, he bought a mill privilege on the Naugatuck River, 
now in the town of Seymour, where he erected buildings for 
the manufacture of broadcloth, incorporating the mill in 
18 12, making it the best equipped mill in the country. 
Before this, in 1793, Arthur and John Scholfield from York- 
shire, England, leased a water privilege at Montville, and 
put into operation the first woolen machinery in the state 
to run by water-power. The Middletown Manufacturing 
Company, organized before the second war with England, 
was the first mill in the state to use steam for manufacturing. 
Other large mills have been built in Winsted, Rockville, 
Talcottville, Putnam, and elsewhere, and Connecticut ranks 
fourth in the manufacture of woolen goods. 

The invention of the cotton-gin in 1792, gave an impetus 
to cotton manufactures, and in 1806, Samuel Slater and 
Ozias Wilkinson erected a mill under the name of the 
Pomfret Manufacturing Company. During the next ten 
years many other cotton mills were built, wherever there 
was a stream with water enough to turn a wheel, and soon 
Jewett City, Sterling, Plainfield, Thompson, Willimantic, 
Killingly and Norwich became centers of the cotton indus- 
try. A modern triumph in the cotton manufactures of the 
state is in making thread. Fifty years ago, the housewife 
insisted on using foreign thread, and manufacturers of 
American thread were unable to sell their products without 
a foreign label, but in 1848, Gardener Hall began the manu- 
facture of cotton thread at South Willington, and his son 
Gardener invented a finishing machine, a tension regulator 
and other valuable appliances. In 1854, the Willimantic 
Linen Company was organized by Hartford capitalists, and 
it was the skill of that company that removed the prejudice 
against American thread. The ingenuity and labor re- 
quired to make a perfect six-cord cotton are suggested by the 



364 .A History of Connecticut 

statement that from the time cotton is taken from the bale, 
until a finished article is produced, the fibers are inter- 
combed over six million times. There are many cotton mills 
in the state, which maintain its high rank in textile indus- 
tries, with a total value of products of more than twenty- 
four million dollars in 1909. 

In the latter part of the eighteenth century, as we have 
seen, the silkworm was cultivated in Windham and Mans- 
field, under the leadership of Aspinwall and Elderkin, and 
with moderate success. In 1829, the Mansfield Silk Company 
built the first manufactory to produce sewing silk, and in 
1836, Frank and Ralph Cheney laid the foundations of the 
largest silk industry in the state. They began to manufac- 
ture at South Manchester silk thread from imported raw 
material, and the business was incorporated in 1854. For 
several years only reeled silk and silk fiber were used, but 
in 1865, the company experimented in spun silk with such 
success that the product in all sorts of dress goods, ribbons, 
satins and countless other goods rivals in brilliancy Europe 
and the Orient, and by one process a dozen different colors 
can be put on the same piece. There are forty-seven silk 
manufactories in the state, in South Manchester, Rock- 
ville, New London, Norwich, and Winsted, with a total 
product of over twenty-one million dollars' worth in 1909. 

New Britain is the center of the hardware manufacturing 
of New England, and her pioneer was James North, a 
blacksmith, who made brass buckles, andirons and other 
articles. His five sons were taught different mechanical 
trades, and the eldest became proficient in the manufacture 
of bells, clocks, andirons, spoons, and buckles ; a market was 
sought in Albany and elsewhere, and goods were first carried 
in saddle-bags. A thriving city has grown up around the 
manufactories of New Britain, which sends out car-loads of 
the products of her skill, extending from a door hinge to an 
automobile. It is called the Hardware City. 

Litchfield County has been famous not only for its 



Inventions, Discoveries, Industries 365 

theology and law, but also for the inventiveness and enter- 
prise of its sons. Collis P. Huntington of Torrington was 
one of the five men to build a railroad to the Pacific ; Junius 
Smith of Plymouth organized in London the first company 
to send steamships across the Atlantic. Oliver Ames, a 
native of Plymouth, invented and manufactured heavy 
cannon of iron rings welded together, and these with their 
superior strength, range, and large projectiles were a de- 
cided advance on previous weapons. Falls Village sup- 
plied the navy for years with shot, shell, anchors, and cables. 
The Borden condensed milk, which was such a boon in the 
Civil War, was the invention of a Torrington man. 

Upon the organization of the Federal Government, an 
effort was made to provide that inventors should receive 
letters patent to entitle them to the sole use of their inven- 
tions for fourteen years. The first patent was granted to 
Samuel Hopkins for an improvement in pot and pearl ashes. 
This was in 1791, and the total number issued that year was 
three; the next year the cotton-gin was patented by Eli 
Whitney, and it was mainly through the exertions of Phineas 
Miller of Connecticut that the invention was brought to 
the attention of those interested in the production of 
cotton, Miller becoming a partner of the inventor. It 
was instantly infringed upon by people in the cotton states, 
and the partners made little out of it. One Southerner 
defended the infringement on the ground that it was 
of such immense importance that no private person had a 
right to a monopoly of it. In May, 1809, Mrs. Mary Kies of 
South Killingly invented a "new and useful improvement 
in weaving straw with silk or thread," for which she obtained 
the first patent issued in the United States to a woman. A 
patent was issued to Charles Reynolds of East Windsor 
in 181 1, for his invention for propelling carriages by steam, 
and the following year there were patents issued for pro- 
cesses in spinning and weaving wool, cotton, flax, and hemp, 
also for making boots and shoes with wooden pegs and 



366 .A History of Connecticut 

screws, an invention widely used. In 1819, a patent was 
issued to John L. Welles of Hartford for the first printing- 
press with the long lever. In the manufacture of cottons 
and woolens the invention of Gilbert Brewster of Norwich 
gave him the title of the Arkwright of America; his improve- 
ments were on a wool spinning-wheel, a method of receiving 
rolls and spindle. A power loom for the weaving of checks 
and plaids, the first American loom of the kind, was the 
invention of E. Burt of Manchester. From 1870, to 1900, 
in proportion to her population, Connecticut led all the other 
states in the number of patents granted to her citizens, with 
the exception of three years when she was second, and the 
names of Whitney, Brewster, Goodyear, Colt, and Howe 
suggest the caliber of the inventors. A complete list of 
Connecticut industries would require a reference to bicycles, 
automobiles, paper, pianos, graphophones, paints, dye-stuffs, 
belting, and an almost endless range of Yankee notions. The 
state leads in eleven of the ninety-nine manufactures classed 
as leading industries, and in many others she stands high. 
The combination of dreaminess, shrewdness, ambition, 
practicalness, and ingenuity found in the Connecticut 
Yankee, together with the harbors, water-power, railroads, 
financial resources, and nearness to large centers, has made 
the state noted for the large variety of its industries. The 
desire has been strong to contrive a machine which would 
create a monopoly and make a fortune, and capital was 
usually ready to launch a promising invention. The tall, 
thin, clever workman, attending carefully to the task in 
hand, and brooding over the question how to devise a 
machine to multiply the product and lessen the expense, is 
the open secret of success in the Connecticut industries. 



CHAPTER XXVII 
THE LATER RELIGIOUS LIFE 

THE intense excitement of the period of the Great 
Awakening, described in an earlier chapter, was fol- 
lowed by a long season of religious decline. It was enhanced 
by bitter wranglings, intolerance and jealousy, which 
plunged the young fervor into an icy bath, followed by the 
bufferings, worries, and absorbing interests of the Revolution. 
In the hurly-burly of war, the march of armies, fears of attack, 
anxieties arising from the fitting out of armies, heavy taxa- 
tion, and forming a new constitution, it is not strange that 
religion suffered. There were many theologians in those 
years, and Connecticut had more to the square mile than 
any other state. The New Lights were prominent, and the 
younger Edwards. Hopkins, Bellamy, West, Smalley, and 
D wight discussed the sovereignty of God, the divine decrees 
— extending even to sin — with a precision and assurance of 
which the angels might well be proud. They taught that all 
are totally depraved ; all acts before conversion are from self- 
love, and therefore sinful, and that nothing is pleasing to God 
but absolute submission. A test often insisted upon was, 
"Are you willing to be damned for the glory of God?" A 
rigid path was laid out in which every one was required to 
walk, if he would be saved. These statements seem hard 
and the theology artificial, but as preached by earnest and 
tender-hearted men the impression was searching and often 
loving. 

367 



368 A History of Connecticvit 

The moral and religious condition of the land was deplor- 
able, as the eighteenth century closed; profanity, drunken- 
ness, immorality, and Sabbath desecration prevailed. At 
the accession of Timothy Dwight to the presidency of 
Yale in 1795, unbelief dominated the college. There 
were societies whose members called one another by the 
names of noted infidels; the college church was almost 
extinct. Here is a description of New Haven, when 
Dwight was manfully leading the sons of Eli into a new 
era of faith. 

Darkness seemed to cover the church. The means of grace were 
little valued; public peace was broken by disorderly and riotous 
conduct. Our midnight slumbers were disturbed by obscene 
songs and drunken revels. The laws were trampled on with 
seeming impunity. Magistrates were defied and abashed. The 
holy Sabbath was violated palpably and openly. Vain amuse- 
ments, gaming, wantonness, and midnight carousing predomi- 
nated. So hardened, so bold, so daring were the sons of Belial 
that the most solemn scenes were exhibited in mockery, and the 
darkest symptom of all was this that the disciples of Jesus were all 
the while asleep. 

Similar are the mournful accounts of Glastonbury : "impene- 
trable gloom . . . house of God in great measure forsaken 
. . . family worship neglected and experimental religion 
by many treated with contempt," are terms used. In 
Lebanon conditions were gloomy: 

errors and immorality gained ground. To many who professed to 
believe the Scriptures, the fundamental doctrines of religion were 
disgustful. Family religion was very unfashionable. The house of 
God was much forsaken on the Sabbath, and when a lecture was 
preached on another day, the preacher saw little else than empty 
pews. Youth spent much time at balls, which were encouraged 
by many of the old. It seemed that unless God should interpose, 
the love of the blessed Jesus would very soon cease to be publicly 



THe Later Religious Life 369 

commemorated, and the enemies of God would soon rejoice in 
the extirpation of even the forms of religion : 

Such accounts as these could be given of many other towns. 
Another depressing element in the condition of affairs 
was the use of intoxicants: ordinations, church-dedications, 
donation-parties, and pastoral calls were scarcely sacred with- 
out the beloved flip; barn-raisings, corn-huskings and elec- 
tions were lacking in charm if Santa Cruz did not preside. 
Perhaps the most conspicuous illustration of the condition 
that prevailed was the fact that, during 1790-96, Nathan 
Strong, successor of Thomas Hooker, and pastor of the First 
Church of Christ of Hartford, carried on a distillery, in 
partnership with Reuben Smith, his brother-in-law, within 
sixty rods of the door of the foremost church in Connecticut. 
Records of the city show some twenty transfers of real estate, 
involving more than thirty thousand dollars, bought and 
sold by Strong and Smith, the pastor's name taking the 
priority in the deeds. There were also transfers of vats, 
stills, and cooper shops, indicating a large business. A story 
has come floating down the century of a sharp little sparring 
match between the pastors of West Hartford, Hartford, and 
East Hartford, which reached its climax in the declaration 
of the keenest of the three reverend saints, who said that 
one raised the rye, the second distilled it into whiskey, and 
the third drank it. It would be safe to say that they all 
drank it. From 1797, there was a change: President D wight 
preached that series of sermons which revolutionized Yale; 
there was no great evangelist like Whitefield, but in many 
of the churches there were revivals, at intervals for sixty 
years. Says Dr. Griffin, the revival "swept from New Eng- 
land its looseness of doctrine and laxity of discipline, and 
awoke an evangelical pulse in every vein of the American 
church." The Connecticut Home Missionary Society 
was organized in 1798. As early as 1793, nine pastors were 
sent out) for four months to work in the new settlements of 
34 



370 -A. History of Connecticut 

Vermont and New York, and in 1798, Connecticut led all 
the other states in organizing for home missions. Massa- 
chusetts followed her example the next year, and into the 
wilds of New York, Ohio, Vermont Illinois, Indiana, Ken- 
tucky and Tennessee the missionaries made their way. In 

1807, the Connecticut Religious Tract Society was formed 
at Hartford. The New Divinity doctrine of benevolence 
was working. 

Soon theological seminaries were formed to give a more 
systematic and thorough training for young ministers than 
could be secured from ministers, however able: Andover in 

1808, Yale in 1822, East Windsor (now Hartford) in 1834. 
The last vestiges of the Half-way Covenant were swept away ; 
temperance received a powerful impulse; Hopkins, the 
theologian of the movement, was an out-and-out temperance 
advocate. The new century came in with such a momentum 
of spiritual power that while the population increased enor- 
mously in a hundred years, church membership increased 
three times as fast. The religious experiences were usually 
accompanied by fearful self-examination and torturing 
anxiety, which often continued for months or even years. 
No conversion was regarded as sound which was not deep 
and heart-rending. An easy macadam into the Kingdom 
had not been discovered. A favorite hymn was this: 

My thoughts on awful subjects roll, 
Damnation and the dead. 

An important phase of the awakening activities was the 
attention given by the churches to Bible study, especially 
among the young. On April 8, 18 18, the four churches 
of Hartford united to organize a Sunday-school society: 
adopting means for the efficient organization of schools in 
each church, and soon the movement spread through the 
state. About that time the churches began to have prayer- 
meetings to feed their social and spiritual life ; family prayer 



First Church, Hartford 

The building with its Christopher Wren spire was erected in 1807. The church was 

organized in Cambridge, Mass., in 1633, with Thomas Hooker, Pastor and 

Samuel Stone, Teacher 



THe Later Religious Life 371 

was restored; the catechism resumed its sway, and observ- 
ance of the Sabbath, which from the first had been compul- 
sory, took hold of the conscience afresh. Horace Bushnell, 
in describing this period half a century later, said: 

If they believed it to be more scriptural to begin their Sunday 
at sunset on Saturday, it was sundown at sundown, not some- 
where between that time and the next morning. Thus, being 
dispatched, when a lad, one Saturday afternoon in the winter, 
to bring home a few bushels of apples engaged of a farmer a 
mile distant, I remember how the careful, exact man looked 
first at the clock, then out of the window at the sun, and turn- 
ing to me said, "I can not measure out the apples in time for 
you to get home before sundown, you must come again Monday." 

Deacons volunteered to aid the constables in enforcing 
the law against Sunday travel, and stationed themselves 
on the highway to intercept travellers who ventured to 
go from town to town without a permit from a justice 
of the peace. A man on one of the river towns began 
the process of domestic barbering too late one Saturday; 
tough beard and dull razor were too much; the sun went 
down on a face half-shaven, but conscience won, and a man 
was seen in church the next day with a muffler around his 
face. Boys could walk in one of three directions in the 
sacred hours — to church, to the pasture for the cows, and to 
the graveyard. Careful mothers felt that a more saintly 
atmosphere enveloped their children when they refrained 
from whistling or similar worldly pleasures on the Lord's day. 
A man living under a hill in Hartford County started on a 
journey after sundown on a Sunday, and on reaching the 
upland and finding the sun above the horizon he paused 
until the day was over. We naturally expect this strictness 
to find expression in law, and in 18 14, it was enacted that 
there should be no travel on Sunday between sunrise and 
sunset, except for necessity or mercy, under penalty of 
twenty dollars. In 1838, there was passed a statute which 



37 2 -A. History of Connecticut 

was a mild affirmation of earlier laws. This law directed 
that there should be no work performed, except for necessity 
or mercy, and tithing men were to be appointed in every 
town to help the constables in the execution of this vague but 
usually stringent requirement. The earlier law of 1702, 
went into particulars, declaring that "every person who 
should travel or do any secular business or labor, except 
works of necessity or mercy, or keep open any shop, ware- 
house, or manufacturing establishment, or engage in any 
sport or recreation on Sunday, between sunrise and sunset," 
should be fined from one dollar to four dollars, unless he were 
a hay ward, in which case the law gave him the privilege of 
following his own judgment. The law of 1784, ordered that 
every person who was present at any concert or gathering 
for diversion on Sunday, whether before sundown or after, 
should pay a four-dollar fine. In 1872, it was ordered that 
between twelve Saturday night and the same hour Sunday 
night no room should be kept open for sports, games of 
chance, and intoxicants under penalty of forty dollars. A 
resolute but unsuccessful attempt was made in 191 1, to 
remove from the statutes the Sunday rest laws. There was 
passed a measure which declared that it is unlawful, except 
in an emergency, to require a person to work on Sunday, 
unless relieved for one whole day during the six days fol- 
lowing, — a law which does not apply to druggists, watchmen, 
janitors, or newspaper men. At the session of the General 
Assembly of 1913, it was voted to allow the commissioners 
of public parks to grant permits for amateur sports on 
Sunday. Another indication of the changes going on in the 
opinions and convictions of the people is found in the laws 
concerning lotteries. In the earlier years, the General 
Assembly often gave permission for lotteries to build roads, 
bridges, lighthouses and churches. In contrast with the 
lottery to erect the famous Bulfinch State House, was a 
bill passed in 1828, forbidding lotteries, under penalty of 
a fine of from twenty to fifty dollars. In 1830, selling 



THe Later Religious Life 373 

lottery tickets was prohibited, under penalty of a fine of 
from fifty to three hundred dollars, or from two months to 
a year in jail. Games of chance were also prohibited. In 
1834, lotteries were again prohibited, and the sale of lottery 
tickets pronounced illegal, under a penalty of a fine of not over 
three hundred dollars, or jail for ninety days. In 1803, 
it was made illegal to bet on a horse race, the penalty being 
from ten to fifty dollars. In 1869, gambling on steamboats 
and railroad trains was prohibited, and two years later, 
gambling houses were declared illegal. In 1839, the circus 
was declared to be a public nuisance by the Connecticut 
statutes. 

There were noted revivals in several years, such as 
1821, 1831, 1837, 1857, after which followed the engrossing 
and exciting years of the Civil War; and after that came 
changes in commercial and social life attending the rapid 
increase of wealth, the swift invasion of thousands from 
Europe, the passing of the center of gravity from country 
to village and city, higher criticism, with a dismissal of 
older views of verbal inspiration of the Scriptures, together 
with the rise of perplexities concerning the balancing inter- 
ests of capital and labor. The Litchfield Beechers, Lyman 
and Henry Ward, have done much to make clear a consistent 
view of the fatherhood of God, and the Moody and Sankey 
revivals of the seventies gave many people a fresh idea of a 
method of becoming a Christian without the protracted and 
tedious divStress of earlier times. It is too early to give a 
clear estimate of the religious life of recent years, which seems 
to some superficial, to many, more practical than spir- 
itual, and more rational than the Christianity of any 
earlier time since the settlers reached the Connecticut. 

Evidently the Puritans of two centuries ago would be as 
much astonished at the types of religion and theology now 
prevailing as with the wonders wrought by steam and elec- 
tricity, and it is not easy to present the views of to-day in a 
way to make current theology feel at home with that of 



374 -A- History of Connecticut 

Hooker and Bellamy; but it is more cheerful, and the ebb 
and flow of religious earnestness does not necessarily mean 
ultimate loss ; the rhythmic movement may turn out to be a 
spiral whose goal shall be good. Benevolence, whether we 
call it Hopkinsian or simply Christian, was a marked feature 
of the nineteenth century, issuing in a brotherliness which, 
after its fearful baptism in blood, wrought more effectively 
than at any other period since apostolic days. The sover- 
eignty of God may have been of late too much in the back- 
ground, but it is refreshing to find increasing attention to the 
alphabet of human brotherhood. 




Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) 

From a Photograph by Sarony, N. Y. 



• CHAPTER XXVIII 
THE ANTI-SLAVERY MOVEMENT IN CONNECTICUT 

THE question arises in the mind of one who wishes a 
comprehensive view of the history of this state: 
What about the anti-slavery movement? Were the people 
too busy with their rapidly growing industries to take a deep 
interest in a struggle with the national curse? We have seen 
in an earlier chapter that for more than two hundred years, 
slavery was practiced in Connecticut. It reached its cul- 
mination in 1774, when there were 191,448 whites, and 
6562 blacks, nearly all of whom were slaves. In 1774, as 
we have seen, the first action was taken against slavery, in 
the law prohibiting further importation of negroes into the 
colony. In 1800, there were 245,631 whites, 4331 blacks, 
and 931 slaves; and in 1840, there were seventeen slaves. It 
was found that slavery was not only unprofitable as a busi- 
ness enterprise, but the negroes were becoming prominent 
in the criminal class; in 1822, one-fourth of the prisoners at 
Newgate were black; in 1828, one out of thirty-four of the 
population was black, and one in three of the convicts was 
a negro, so that there was ten times as much crime among 
the blacks as among whites. 

Reference has been made to the attitude of Samuel 
Hopkins and others toward slavery, and as the eighteenth 
century drew toward its close the abolition movement gained 
momentum. In 1790, the Connecticut Anti-Slavery Society 
was formed, with President Ezra Stiles of Yale College as its 

375 



376 A. History of Connecticut 

president. In 1791 , this society made an appeal to Congress 
for action on the subject, and the same year Jonathan 
Edwards the younger said before the Connecticut Society: 

Every man who cannot show that his negro hath by his voluntary 
conduct forfeited his liberty, is obliged immediately to manumit 
him .... To hold a man in a state of slavery, who has a right 
to his liberty, is to be everyday guilty of robbing him of his 
liberty, or of man-stealing, and it is a greater sin in the sight of 
God than concubinage or fornication. 

Wilson says in his Rise and Fall of the Slave Power: 
Edwards "clearly promulgated the duty of immediate 
emancipation as distinctly as it was ever enunciated before 
or since." When it was proposed in Congress to lay a duty 
upon negroes, Roger Sherman said he "could not reconcile 
himself to the insertion of human beings as subjects of 
import among goods, wares, and merchandise," and Roger 
Griswold took the same position. At the first annual con- 
vention of the anti-slavery societies, 1794, Uriah Tracy was 
present from Connecticut, and in the convention of the fol- 
lowing year Connecticut was represented by Jonathan Ed- 
wards, Jr., Uriah Tracy, and Zephaniah Swift; Edwards 
being chairman of the business committee. Early in the 
nineteenth century, the colonization plan came to the front, 
not to suppress the slave trade or abolish slavery, but to 
establish a colony on the coast of Africa, whither negroes 
could return. This scheme was not so much a plaster on 
the open sore, as a mild sedative to the consciences of those 
who thought that something ought to be done. There was 
always a strong element in the state that opposed slavery; 
in 1806-7, when Southerners sneered at the opposition of the 
North to the slave trade, Mosley of Connecticut said that if 
any of his section were convicted of being in the business, his 
constituents would thank the South for hanging them. In 
181 8, when a bill to enforce the fugitive-slave law was under 
debate in Congress, Williams of Connecticut opposed a clause 



THe Anti-Slavery Movement 377 

permitting freemen to be dragged to another part of the 
country for trial. 

There were two significant laws passed by the legis- 
lature at the time when the question of the fugitive-slave 
law was disturbing the minds of many; one was a bill 
providing for a jury trial for alleged fugitives, and the 
other was a law which forbade any of the state officials to 
take part in fugitive-slave cases. The former suggests the 
sense of justice of the average citizen, the other a disposition 
to hold aloof from meddling, — that wariness that had such 
abundant illustration in affairs with Indians and royalist 
officers. In 1833, the New Haven Anti-Slavery Society was 
founded — one of the first societies in the country, based on 
the principle of immediate and unconditional abolition. It 
sent greetings to the old Pennsylvania abolition society, and 
received a cordial response. Among the leading spirits in 
the state were two ministers, S. J. May and Simeon E. 
Jocelyn; both of these being members of the famous 
anti-slavery convention in Philadelphia in December, 1833, 
and among the sixty-two signers of the momentous dec- 
laration of that convention. The Rev. Samuel J. May 
was pastor of the Unitarian church in Brooklyn, a born 
reformer and instrumental in forming The Windham County 
Peace Society in 1826. 

During the violent agitation through the state, the Christ- 
ian Freeman, a newspaper in the interests of anti-slavery, was 
started in 1836, in Hartford, and from 1840, the opposition to 
slavery increased in the state, despite the conservatism of the 
manufacturers and traders, whose business relations with the 
South were important . In 1 845 , the Abolition or Liberty party 
nominated a full state and congressional ticket, though four 
years before, the ticket had appeared in the state. In 1844, 
Governor Sherman Baldwin asked the General Assembly: 

Is it not time that every vestige of a system founded in injustice 
and fraud, and incapable of being supported except by the pro- 



378 .A. History of Connecticut 

visions of a positive law, should be effaced from our statute book? 
Ought our judges any longer to be constrained to withhold their 
authoritative declaration that here also, as in other free states of 
the North, man may be the owner but cannot be the subject 
of property? . . . I deem it worthy of the consideration of the 
General Assembly, whether the right of voting in town meetings 
ought not to be restored to our colored citizens, as they formerly 
enjoyed it when possessed of the same qualifications which con- 
fer the right on other citizens who are not electors of the state, 
and whether it is consistent with the great principles maintained 
by our fathers in the Revolutionary constitution to subject them 
to state taxation as long as they are excluded by the constitution 
from the right of suffrage. 

The legislature granted exemption from taxation. After 
Governor Baldwin had entered the United States Senate, 
his first address there was in June, 1848, when he discussed 
the bill for the admission of Oregon as a state. Oregon had 
adopted a law forever prohibiting slavery, and the question 
in Congress was whether the bill to admit Oregon could be 
ratified. Baldwin said that Congress had exercised that 
power since the origin of the government, and it was at 
liberty to take any action it chose according to its judgment 
of what would be for the best interests of the territory. 
When the question concerning slavery in California came 
before the senate, Baldwin moved that the people of the 
ceded territory should remain in general under their existing 
laws, which prohibited slavery. For years the Free Soil 
party had a separate state ticket, though it polled but few 
votes, and many of the Whigs were with that party in 
opposition to slavery. Baldwin was a Whig, and the Free 
Soilers always opposed him; in the legislature that was to 
elect his successor, the more radical anti-slavery men held 
the balance of power. After his nomination by the Whigs, 
he was asked for a written statement of his views on the 
exciting topic and he refused to give it, declaring that it was 
beneath the dignity of a senator to make a pledge, and as a 




Roger S. Baldwin (1793-1863) 

From a reproduction by Randall. From The Connecticut Magazine, vol. vii 



THe .Anti-Slavery Movement 379 

result he failed of election, — a misfortune and serious loss, for 
Sherman Baldwin was the ablest lawyer in the state, and in 
the judgment of a high authority, the ablest lawyer who ever 
practiced in Connecticut. He joined in the movement to 
form the Republican party, and was one of the electoral 
college from Connecticut, which cast the vote for Lincoln 
in i860. He was a tall man of imposing presence, and the 
blue coat with gilt buttons and buff vest, suggestive of the 
sterling colonial days, formed a fitting garb for this powerful 
figure in American politics. John Brown, born in Torring- 
ton, hated slavery, for whose abolition he felt called; joined 
the battle in Kansas, brought his work to a head at Har- 
pers Ferry in 1859, and went to the gallows disappointed, 

His soul goes marching on. 

Influential was Harriet Beecher Stowe, whose famous novel, 
Uncle Tom's Cabin, was a decided force in creating feeling 
leading toward emancipation. Litchfield was the birthplace 
also, as we notice in the chapter on literature, of Henry 
Ward Beecher, whose services on platform and in the pulpit 
for freedom were in the same class of power and efficiency 
with those of his sister, the creator of Uncle Tom. 

Though Connecticut was opposed to war, and the General 
Assembly passed resolutions deploring its necessity, urging 
that philanthropic efforts be made to secure peace, it 
censured the state delegation in the House of Representatives, 
as well as Senator J. M. Niles, for voting for the admission 
of Texas as a slave state, as being in opposition to the wishes 
of the majority of the freemen of the state ; the censure was 
especially severe in judgment on their delinquent senator, 
claiming that his vote was the deciding one. In 1847, by a 
vote of more than three to one, the state refused to amend the 
constitution by eliminating white before male persons, yet 
a strong anti-slavery sentiment was growing, and among her 
sons Henry B. Stanton, John Pierson, Henry Foster, John 
W. Creed and others worked shoulder to shoulder with 



380 A. History of Connecticut 

Garrison and Sumner. The fugitive-slave cases were fought 
obstinately in the courts and won for freedom. While 
colonization was thought good for negroes, it was popular 
in the state, and when the Republican party came forward 
in 1856, Connecticut gave Fremont 42,715 votes, Buchanan 
34,495 and Fillmore 2,615. It is probable that the chronic 
conservatism of the state, together with the caution naturally 
fostered by the fact that Connecticut was deeply interested 
in the thousand million dollars' worth of goods which the 
North sent annually to the South, worked to promote a wari- 
ness which we do not now applaud. As we shall see in the 
chapter on the Civil War, when the struggle came, Connecti- 
cut, with her great Governor Buckingham, was second to 
no other state in the long conflict. When the call came 
for men, armed and well equipped, she rang true; and while 
idealism and passion for reform were not brilliant before the 
war, when the contest was inevitable, and the sword had to 
be drawn, the state was firm, level-headed, and patriotic. 




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CHAPTER XXIX 
CONNECTICUT IN THE CIVIL WAR 

AS we have seen and as we might expect, Connecticut was 
not clamorous for the war, and hardly believed a 
struggle possible until the first gun was fired, but when the 
contest came on, and Lincoln called for soldiers, the state 
turned at once from shop and farm and was soon ready for 
battle. It was well that a man of the caliber of William A. 
Buckingham was governor — a worthy successor of Governor 
Trumbull. On January 17, 1861, he issued his proclama- 
tion to the militia of the state, warning the men that they 
were liable to be called out at any moment, urging them to 
be "ready to render such service as any emergency might 
demand"; on his own responsibility he ordered the quarter- 
master to buy equipment for five thousand men, a resource 
of decided value when the call came three months later for 
troops. 

The news that Sumter had fallen reached Connecticut 
on Sunday morning April 13, and on Monday morning came 
the president's proclamation, calling for seventy-five thousand 
troops for three months; the quota of Connecticut was one 
regiment. When it was found that the law did not empower 
the governor to order a regiment of militia out of the state, 
Buckingham on his own responsibility called for a regiment 
to be made up of volunteers. Three regiments were quickly 
formed, but it was only by the personal influence of the 
governor, who went at once to Washington, that the second 

381 



382 A. History of Connecticut 

and third regiments were allowed to go to the field. Mass 
meetings were held all over the state; in Brooklyn, Windham 
County, sixty men enlisted in thirty minutes; in Norwich, 
the five sons of Jared Dennis enlisted; Winsted claims the 
first enlistment — Samuel Home, a youth of seventeen. On 
that strenuous Monday morning, April 14, there met in the 
office of the Hartford Press, with Joseph R. Hawley its editor, 
Albert W. Drake and Joseph Perkins; the three signed as 
volunteers, and by night the company was full, with Hawley 
as first lieutenant, soon to be captain, then lieutenant- 
colonel of the Seventh, and afterwards brigadier-general. 
The town meeting came into play ; all over the state, money 
was voted to meet the crisis, to support the families of volun- 
teers, and to insure a prompt response to the governor's 
call. When the legislature met in May, it ratified the action 
of the governor, and appropriated two million dollars for 
military expenses. Extra pay, to the amount of thirty 
dollars a year, was voted to every enlisted man during the 
war, besides six dollars per month for the wife and two 
dollars for every child under fourteen. 

It was May 13, when the First Connecticut Regiment 
reached Washington, and it was ready for battle with fifty 
thousand pounds of ammunition and guns of the latest 
pattern. It had more transportation than all the other 
regiments in the capital combined, and on the day of its 
arrival, its teams were borrowed by the government. Gen- 
eral Scott exclaimed, "Thank God, we have one regiment 
ready to take the field; Colonel Tyler was prepared not only 
for a battle, but for a campaign." The Second Regiment 
under Colonel Alfred E. Terry followed the next day with 
officers well trained in the state militia. The New Haven 
Grays, the Mansfield Guards of Middletown and the Na- 
tional Guard of Birmingham were favorite militia companies. 
The Third went two weeks later, all three regiments 
were brigaded under General Tyler, and much of the effi- 
ciency of Connecticut troops through the war was due to the 




Gen. Joseph R. Hawley (1826-1905), Governor and Senator 

From a Photograph 



Connecticut in tKe Civil War 383 

thorough drill of that able and conscientious officer. This 
brigade took part in the battle of Bull Run, leading the 
advance, opening the battle, and covering the retreat. When 
they marched back to their quarters in Washington, they 
carried their own camp equipage in perfect condition, and 
also the camp equipage of three other regiments, which they 
found abandoned, also two pieces of artillery, left by panic- 
stricken men. Said Stedman in the New York World, 
"The Connecticut Brigade was the last to leave the field 
at Bull Run, and by hard fighting had to defend itself and to 
protect our scattered thousands for several miles of the 
retreat." 

The first general to fall in the war was General Nathanael 
Lyon, a native of Ashford, graduate of West Point and soldier 
in Mexico and California. All eyes turned to the border 
states when the war opened, and Captain Lyon, who was in 
charge of the United States Arsenal at St. Louis, gathered 
some troops and attacked Governor Jackson so vehemently 
that he captured twelve hundred Confederates in half an 
hour. When Jackson called on all ' ' loyal Missourians to rally 
to the flag of the state," Lyon, already brigadier-general, 
responded, started for the capital with three thousand 
troops, drove Jackson from the city, and pursuing, de- 
feated him, then marched toward Springfield. Two deep 
rivers were in his way, but he marched two hundred miles 
in eleven days, covering the last fifty miles in twenty-four 
hours. General Fremont was placed in command of the 
Union army of Missouri, and failed to reinforce Lyon, who 
was threatened by a large force of the enemy under Price 
and McCullough; in a night attack, Lyon, with five thou- 
sand men, met twenty -three thousand, in one of the fiercest 
battles of the war; during six hours the men returning 
repeatedly to the charge, driving the enemy before them 
every time, though gradually losing large numbers. Lyon's 
horse was shot under him, and he was wounded three times. 
With the cry, "Come on, my brave men! I will lead you!" 



384 A. History of Connecticut 

he led the last charge, and fell. No one could rouse the 
soldiers as he, and with his death the hope of victory vanished. 
The body was left on the field, but was recovered, and on 
the homeward route to Ashford, it lay in state in St. Louis, 
Cincinnati, Philadelphia, New York, and Hartford. No less 
an authority than General Sherman gave this tribute to 
General Lyon: 

He was the first man in this country that seized the whole ques- 
tion, and took the initiative, and determined to strike a blow, 
and not wait for the blow to be struck. That he did not succeed 
at Wilson's Creek was no fault of his, but the result of causes 
which he could not control. The act itself was as pure and god- 
like as any that ever characterized a soldier on the field of battle. 
I wish he could have lived ; for he possessed many of those quali- 
ties which were needed in the first two or three years of the war, 
and his death imposed on the nation a penalty numbered by 
thousands on thousands of lives, and millions on millions of dollars. 

Colonel Ellsworth, the first to fall in the war, losing his 
life while hauling down a rebel flag in Alexandria, was a 
grandson of Connecticut, his father having gone from Hart- 
ford to Michigan. At the skirmish at Big Bethel, Theodore 
Winthrop, a descendant of Governor Winthrop, a brilliant 
man and brave soldier, fell while cheering his fellow-soldiers 
to victory. The death of another hero sent a thrill of pain 
through the state when Captain James H. Ward fell. He 
was a Hartford man, an authority in naval matters, 
author of Manual of Naval Tactics, also a work on Naval 
Ordnance and Gunnery and professor at the Naval Academy. 
He organized the Potomac flotilla, the first Union war-fleet, 
which under his energetic directing cleared a passage by 
water to Washington. Ward was shot while commanding 
the Freeborn in an attack on Mathias Point. A prominent 
Connecticut man in the earlier part of the war was General 
Joseph K. F. Mansfield, a native of New Haven. After 
graduating at West Point, he became chief engineer in the 




O H 







S 



S So 



o 



Connecticut in tKe Civil War 385 

Mexican war under General Taylor. At the opening of the 
Civil War he commanded the Department of Washington, 
became brigadier-general, captured Norfolk, was made 
major-general of volunteers, commanded a division in the 
Maryland campaign, and was mortally wounded while 
heading a charge at Antietam. 

On the day after Bull Run, Lincoln called for five hundred 
thousand men for three years. Most of the three months' 
men reenlisted. The Fourth and Fifth regiments had 
already enlisted for three years. During the summer of 
1861, the Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth quickly filled 
their rolls. In the autumn, the Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth, 
and Thirteenth were sent away. In July, 1862, Lincoln 
called for three hundred thousand men for three years. 
The quota of Connecticut was 7145. General Daniel 
Tyler came home, and was tireless preparing regiments 
for the field. The Fourteenth went from the state in 
general; the Fifteenth from New Haven County, and was 
called the Lyon Regiment. The Sixteenth was raised in 
Hartford County, and Francis Beach of the regular army 
was colonel. To this regiment the town of Farmington 
contributed sixty-five men. The Seventeenth went from 
Fairfield County. A private in the Seventeenth was 
Elias Howe, Jr., one of the richest and most patriotic men in 
the state. A stringency in the government treasury had at 
one time caused a dearth of pay for four months. Elias 
Howe made out his check for thirty-one thousand dollars, 
the pay for two months, that the men might have money. 

The Sixteenth had a terrific experience ; in six weeks from 
the time the regiment went down the Connecticut River it 
was hurled on to the battle-field of Antietam, the bloodiest 
battle of the war. At the last moment they received their 
muskets, and the men were ordered to join the advance under 
Harlan. The second day only a half of the Sixteenth could 
be mustered; the surgeons had worked till they dropped 
from exhaustion. In that battle, Connecticut lost one 

25 



386 .A. History of Connecticut 

hundred and thirty-six who were killed outright, and four 
hundred and sixty-six wounded. The state was in deep sor- 
row after Antietam, not only because of the many killed 
and wounded, but also because of the passing of many into 
Southern prisons. 

The service of the state in the navy was no less efficient 
than in the army, and the name that comes first to our minds 
is that of Gideon Welles ; born in Glastonbury, he was sum- 
moned from the editorial rooms of the Hartford Times to be 
Lincoln's secretary of the navy. It was he who not only 
presided over the formation of an effective navy, whose 
battle-fame will never cease to be glorious, but he also 
achieved the difficult feat of cutting off the supplies of food 
and munitions of war from the South by the most extended 
and effective blockade the world has seen, so that the South 
was sealed in. The state also gave Rear- Admiral Francis 
H. Gregory, Commodores John Rogers, C. R. F. Rog- 
ers, and R. B. Hitchcock, Lieutenant-Commanders Henry 
C. White, Edward Terry, Francis M. Bunce, afterwards 
admiral, and Andrew H. Foote, afterwards admiral. The 
last named was a native of New Haven, and after a long and 
trying service in the Mediterranean and on the Canton 
River, he was at the opening of the war in command of the 
Brooklyn Navy Yard. When the problem of opening the 
Mississippi River confronted the government, Foote was 
called on to organize a flotilla of gunboats. With his cus- 
tomary energy he formed a river navy, and his name will 
always be associated with the capture of Forts Henry and 
Donelson, the two most important Confederate defenses on 
the west. There followed the more difficult undertaking of 
reducing the strong fortifications of Island Number Ten; 
army worked with navy; a channel was cut through the 
peninsula in nineteen days, and Foote' s gunboats, passing 
through the canal, soon decided the fate of the fort. A 
wound received at the battle of Fort Donelson so enfeebled 
him that in July, 1862, he was forced to give up the com- 




^ 




Connecticut in tKe Civil War 387 

mand of the western flotilla ; the same month he was advanced 
to the rank of rear-admiral. After a brief service as chief of 
the Bureau of Equipment and Recruiting, he was ordered to 
Charleston, to supersede Admiral Dupont, but he died in 
New York, June 26, 1863, before taking command. 

The building of the Monitor at one of the most critical 
times of the war is associated with Connecticut. The fear- 
ful execution of the Merrimac in battle at Hampton Roads 
had caused great anxiety in Washington and through the 
North. Secretary Welles asked for a board of engineers to 
arrange floating batteries. The one man most capable of 
making a plan for a gunboat which could overcome the 
Merrimac was John Ericsson, and he was unable to get a 
hearing. In 1844, he had designed the Princeton, a warship, 
whose engines were below the water-line, and it used a screw 
instead of paddle-wheels. But the bursting of a gun, killing 
two cabinet members, resulted in the unjust refusal to pay 
Ericsson for his services. While plans were pending with the 
board of Secretary Welles, C. S. Bushnell of New Haven went 
to Ericsson for an estimate on the amount of metal that 
could be borne by the Galena, a proposed warship, which 
Bushnell was building for the government. After the busi- 
ness was finished, Ericsson showed him the pasteboard 
model of the Monitor. Bushnell was so impressed by it that 
he carried it at once to Hartford to show it to Secretary Welles 
The latter, convinced of its value, urged Bushnell to take 
it before the naval board. Bushnell secured the coopera- 
tion of John A. Griswold and John F. Winslow of the iron- 
works at Troy. He also interested Secretary Seward, who 
gave him a letter of introduction to the president, but the 
naval officers were not won. On a second hearing, Bushnell 
urged the past achievements of Ericsson as well as the merits 
of the battery proposed, but there was still opposition. 
Bushnell hastened to New York to persuade Ericsson to go 
to Washington to speak for himself. In a letter to Secretary 
Welles, Bushnell says: 



388 j\ History of Connecticut 

I appeared at his house the next morning at nine o'clock, and 
heard his sharp greeting. "Well, how is it?" " Glorious, " said 
I. "Go on, go on," said he with impatience. "What did they 
say?" "Admiral Smith says it is quite worthy of the genius of 
an Ericsson." "But Paulding — what did he say of it?" "He 
said it was just the thing to clear the rebels out of Charleston 
with." "How about Davis?" he inquired. "Captain Davis 
wants two or three explanations in detail that I couldn't give 
him, and Secretary Welles wishes you to come right on and make 
them before the entire Board in his room at the Department." 
"Well, I'll go to-night." 

The arguments of the inventor overcame all scruples, and 
in Ericsson's words, "I returned at once, and before the 
contract was completed, the keel plate of the intended vessel 
had passed through the rollers of the mill." Bushnell, 
Winslow, and Griswold became partners with Ericsson in the 
construction of the ship; N. D. Sperry of New Haven 
and Daniel Drew of New York indorsing Bushnell 's bond for 
his share. The four partners signed a contract in October 
with T. F. Rowland for the construction of the "iron battery " 
at the Continental Iron Works at Greenport, N. Y., "in 
a thorough and workmanlike manner and to the entire satis- 
faction of Captain Ericsson, and in the shortest possible space 
of t ime. ' ' She was launched January 30, 1 862 ; extreme length 
one hundred and seventy-two feet and height of turret nine 
feet. The battery consisted of two eleven-inch guns, mounted 
in a revolving turret, supported on a central spindle. This 
was the first turret actually applied to a ship. On the morn- 
ing of March 9, the "little cheesebox on a raft," the engineer 
ill, the volunteer crew under strict orders to avoid meeting the 
rebel ironclad, steamed into Hampton Roads. The Cumber- 
land had been sunk, the Congress was burning, the rest of the 
navy at the mercy of the Mcrritnac, Fortress Monroe in 
danger, the northern ports warned hastily by the Secretary 
of War to protect themselves as best they could. The whole 
situation was changed by the appearance of the Monitor. 



Connecticut in tKe Civil War 389 

One of the bravest and ablest officers of the war was 
General Alfred H. Terry, who was born in Hartford, studied 
law at Yale, became colonel of the Second Regiment of vol- 
unteers, fought at Bull Run, became colonel of the Seventh 
Connecticut, was made brigadier-general in April, 1862, 
fought at Charleston and commanded a division and then a 
corps in the Army of the James in the campaign of 1864. 
In January, 1865, in cooperation with Admiral Porter, he 
made a successful assault on Fort Fisher, for which service 
he was made a brigadier-general in the regular army and 
was promoted to be major-general of volunteers; in 1886, 
he was promoted major-general of regulars. The persistent 
attacks of Terry on Fort Wagner ended in its evacuation; 
he afterwards took Wilmington, and served under Sherman 
in the final campaign against Johnston. The greatest achieve- 
ment of General Terry was the capture of Fort Fisher, the 
guardian of Wilmington, the one port still in control of the 
Confederates, through which passed cotton and munitions 
of war. The works were regarded as impregnable. The 
man whom Grant selected to lower the flag of Fort Fisher was 
Terry, in cooperation with Admiral Porter, who came on 
from the West, after two years of able service, to conduct 
the naval part of the undertaking. The rebel force out- 
numbered the Union, but Terry left nothing undone to 
insure success. For seventy-two hours he was without sleep, 
so careful was he in his preparations. The contest was per- 
sistent and bitter; but at last the fort was taken with nine- 
teen hundred prisoners, forty-four heavy guns, and many 
fieldpieces; General Terry, "the hero of Fort Fisher," was 
congratulated in personal letters from Stanton, Grant, and 
the president. Through the influence of those men Terry 
was made Provisional Major-General of Volunteers, though 
the legal number of such officers was filled. There was not 
another instance like this in the war; he was also the solitary 
instance of an officer of volunteers made brigadier-general 
of the regular army. 



39° -A. History of Connecticut 

There was still another general of great ability from Con- 
necticut, John Sedgwick ; born at Cornwall, graduated at West 
Point, he served in the Seminole and Mexican wars. At the 
breaking out of the Civil War, he was appointed colonel in the 
regular army, and brigadier-general of volunteers, and he be- 
came ma j or-general in 1 862 . He commanded a division of the 
Second Corps in the Peninsula campaign, and at Fair Oaks, 
May 31, 1862, the arrival of his division saved McClellan's right 
wing from disaster. At Antietam he was twice wounded, being 
carried almost lifeless from the field, and when Hooker reor- 
ganized the Army of the Potomac in the spring of 1863, Sedg- 
wick was given the Sixth Corps which he commanded until his 
death. He was appointed to storm the heights of Fredericks- 
burg, took part in the last two days at Gettysburg, and led in 
the pursuit of the defeated Confederates. He was prominent 
in the opening of the campaign in the Wilderness, and was 
killed at Spottsylvania, on May 9, 1864. Sedgwick was a man 
of equal kindness, coolness, modesty and intrepidity; he saved 
the day at Fair Oaks; he twice refused the command of the 
Army of the Potomac; defying danger he fell at length, shot 
through the head. An historian says, ' ' The army felt it could 
better have afforded to sacrifice the best division." 

The First Connecticut Cavalry had a remarkable record ; 
its colonel for a time was Erastus Blakeslee, born in Ply- 
mouth, he enlisted as lieutenant, and in two years was pro- 
moted to the command. The regiment was in eighty-eight 
engagements, and of the twelve medals given by Congress to 
Connecticut soldiers for bravery, three were assigned to 
members of this regiment. It was part of Sheridan's 
renowned cavalry. The valley of the Shenandoah was its 
favorite fighting ground. At last, in Sheridan's powerful 
squadrons, it helped cut off Lee's last chance of retreat. The 
artillery of Connecticut was in the same class with the in- 
fantry and cavalry; the First Artillery was called by the 
great artillery officer, General Barry, "unrivalled in the 
armies of the United States"; of the Second Artillery, made 



Connecticut in the Civil "War 391 

up of the sons of Litchfield County, General Terry said that 
there might be better, but he had never seen it. 

It is not quite fair to make personal mention of so many, 
and not of many more who were equally brave and heroic: 
men like Hawley, Kingsbury, Chatfield, Rodman, Chamber- 
lain, Trumbull, Camp and thousands of men in the ranks. 
Royal was the devotion of Connecticut, and no one has 
summed up her service better than Croffut, the military 
historian of the state, who says: 

The first great martyrs of the war — Ellsworth, Winthrop, Ward 
and Lyon — were of Connecticut stock. A Connecticut flag 
first displaced the palmetto upon the soil of South Carolina; 
a Connecticut flag was first planted in Mississippi ; a Connecticut 
flag was first unfurled before New Orleans. The sons of Connec- 
ticut followed the illustrious grandson of Connecticut (General 
Sherman) as he swung his army with amazing momentum 
from the fastnesses of Tennessee to the Confederacy's vital 
center. On the banks of every river in the South, and in the 
battle-smoke of every contested ridge and mountain-peak, the 
sons of Connecticut have stood and patiently struggled. 

He might have added that Ulysses S. Grant was grandson of 
Noah Grant, a South Windsor man who went as a pioneer 
to the Western Reserve. 

The total expense of the war to the state, not includ- 
ing private contributions, or indirect loss, was more than 
six millions and a half. The population was four hun- 
dred and sixty-one thousand, of whom eighty thousand 
were voters, and from this number there went to the war 
54,882 men, who were distributed among twenty-eight 
regiments of infantry, two regiments and three batteries of 
artillery, one regiment and one squadron of cavalry. When 
reduced to three-years' terms, the number sent from the state 
is equivalent to 48,181 men, 6698 more than her quota. 
Of these, the number killed, wounded, and missing, together 
with those dying of disease, was 20,573 (209 being officers). 



CHAPTER XXX 
INSURANCE 

THE place insurance has held among the business interests 
of Connecticut for more than a century is sufficient 
reason for a somewhat detailed account of an enterprise 
in which this state has been famous for adventure and sound 
judgment. After the adoption of the Constitution in 1789, 
and the establishment of a stable government, the energetic 
people began to grapple afresh with the questions that arose 
on every side, and to pass out into various lines of achieve- 
ment. In 1792, the Hartford Bank and the Union Bank of 
New London were organized, and soon afterwards the men 
who formed the Hartford Bank came together as an associa- 
tion to insure houses and merchandise against fire. In 1 794, 
Thomas Sanford and Jeremiah Wadsworth, who conducted 
a general merchandise or department store, decided to ven- 
ture to underwrite, since experiments in Philadelphia had 
shown that there might be money in it, and their famous 
Policy Number Two was dated February 8, 1794, and it 
insured the house of William Imlay for eight hundred pounds 
for one year, at a rate of one-half of one per cent. It pro- 
tected the owner "against fire, and all dangers of fire; more- 
over against all damage, which on account of fire may 
happen, either by tempest, fire, wind," or fault of servants 
or neighbors. About everything was based on confidence 
in the owner of the. property, who needed to "give no proof 
or accounting of value; but the producing this policy shall 

392 



Insurance 393 

suffice." Nothing was paid if the loss was less than five per 
cent, of the amount of the policy. The only people insured 
were well-to-do men who were above suspicion. On March 
14, 1794, there appeared a card in the Hartford Courant: 

Hartford Fire Insurance-Office 

The subscribers have this day opened an office for The pur- 
pose of insuring Houses, Household Furniture, Goods, Wares, 
Merchandise etc. against Fire. 

Sanford and Wadsworth. 

Hartford, 10th March, 1794. 

On July 2J, 1795, Jeremiah Wadsworth, John Caldwell, 
Thomas Sanford, Elias Shipman, and John Morgan formed 
a copartnership "for the purpose of underwriting on vessels, 
stock, merchandise, etc., by the firm of the Hartford and 
New Haven Insurance Company." Evidently this is the 
partnership of the year before enlarged by the addition of 
Elias Shipman of New Haven, who was made agent in that 
city, and the business was widened to include marine insur- 
ance. Shipman soon withdrew, establishing a separate 
business, and from the autumn of 1797, this was carried 
on under the charter of the New Haven Insurance Company 
until it ceased in 1833. It is an indication of the enterprise 
and good judgment of some of the ablest men of a century 
ago, especially the strong men of Hartford, that they en- 
tered upon the new field of insurance, and it is interesting to 
glance at some of the leaders. In the first avowed partner- 
ship for the purpose is the name of Jeremiah Wadsworth, an 
intimate friend of Robert Morris and Alexander Hamilton; 
a devoted patriot in the Revolution, promoted to the posi- 
tion of commissary-general of purchases for the colonies, 
and after the war one of the best financiers of his time. 
Wadsworth was one of the founders of the Bank of North 
America in Philadelphia, and on the urgent advice of Hamil- 
ton was elected president of the Bank of New York. He was 



394 -A. History of Connecticut 

chiefly instrumental in organizing the Hartford Bank, of 
which he was elected president. His only son Daniel 
inherited his father's wealth and largeness of sympathies, 
and furnished the site and generous subscriptions for the 
Atheneum, which was built where the Wadsworth mansion 
stood. John Caldwell was a merchant who held many 
offices of trust and influence, building and owning ships, 
and providing much of the cargoes to the West Indies and 
other lands. He was president of the Hartford Marine 
Insurance Company ; elected twenty times to the legislature ; 
was on the commission to build the State House, and was 
one of the founders of the School for the Deaf. 

John Morgan was a leading merchant of the Connecticut 
valley, to which his ancestor of the fifth remove had come 
as a pioneer. He is remembered as a courtly gentleman of 
the colonial type, and to the time of his death in 1838, he 
wore the colonial costume — a ruffled shirt bosom, short 
breeches, and silver knee-buckles, and was noted for his 
elegant manners. By the largest subscription and tireless 
efforts he pushed through the building of the bridge, and was 
president of the Connecticut Bridge Company from 1809, to 
1820. Caldwell and Morgan carried their influence to aid 
Ezekiel Williams, Jr., for years the central figure in the 
marine insurance of the Connecticut valley. Williams was 
born in Wethersfield in 1765, and was grandson of Solomon 
Williams, minister for half a century of the church in 
Lebanon, of which Governor Trumbull was a pillar. 

There was abundant opportunity for marine insurance, 
especially at Hartford, the head of sloop navigation, and the 
port from which many goods floated down the Connecticut. 
It was a laborious business, for the methods were crude, — not 
by definite companies, but by distinct combinations, entered 
into when a vessel sailed, and Williams arranged and man- 
aged this, collecting the premiums, keeping records, investi- 
gating claims, and paying losses. Many policies bore as 
many as fourteen signatures, and Williams had an account 



Insurance 395 

with every man, collecting premiums or paying dividends 
according to the fortune of the vessel, for the assurers 
usually gave their notes for the premium, payable out of 
the profits at the close of the venture. The premiums for 
the round trip often ran up to ten, fifteen, and sixteen per 
cent., and rebates were allowed if the vessel avoided certain 
ports and returned safely. The assurers agreed to bear 

perils of seas, men of war, fires, enemies, pirates, rovers, thieves, 
jettisons, letters of mart, and counter-mart, surprisals, takings 
at sea, arrests, restraints, and detainments of all kings, princes 
or people of what nation, condition or quality soever; barratry 
of the master (unless the assured be the owner of the vessel) and 
mariners, and all other losses, perils and misfortunes, that have 
or shall come to the hurt, detriment or damage of the said vessel 
or any part thereof. 

The amounts written on a vessel varied : sometimes ten men 
would join, taking from fifty to one hundred and fifty dollars 
each; others wrote five or six hundred dollars; several 
ventured once or twice, then retired. When wintry winds 
were howling, a risk on a marine policy was a poor sleeping- 
powder. 

We have glanced at the association of Wadsworth, San- 
ford, and others in the beginnings of fire insurance in 1794, 
a partnership which was dissolved in 1798. Some of these 
pioneers stayed in the business, and in 1803, were incorpor- 
ated as the Hartford Insurance Company, and in 1810, a 
charter was secured for the Hartford Fire Insurance Company, 
with a capital of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. 
The president from 1803, was John Caldwell, and the office 
was on the south side of Pearl Street, near Main. From 1807, 
the secretary was Thomas S. Williams, a younger brother of 
Ezekiel, an office which had strong attractions for able 
men, for Williams was mayor of Hartford, member of 
Congress, judge and chief-justice of the state, and his suc- 
cessor was William W. Ellsworth, member of Congress and 



396 A. History of Connecticut 

governor. After its charter was secured, the Hartford Fire, 
now the second oldest stock fire insurance company in 
America, secured a large man for president, — General 
Nathanael Teny, an imperial and imperious man of six 
feet and four inches. He was for long periods mayor, judge, 
and member of Congress. The burden of business fell upon 
the secretary, Walter Mitchell of Wethersfield, who received 
an annual salary of three hundred dollars, and an allowance 
of thirty dollars for rent; it was afterward increased 
gradually to four hundred and sixty, and then it gradually 
dwindled to two hundred dollars. Not a loss occurred the 
first year, and for the following three years, losses amounted 
to less than five hundred dollars. Insurance was at first 
supposed to be a matter of pure chance; no attempt was 
made to generalize the laws which lay beneath it, and as it 
was an affair of experiment, some paid too little and some 
too much; policy number one of the Hartford covered a 
builder's risk of four thousand dollars for three months at 
twelve and a half per cent. Number five took a risk of 
eleven thousand dollars on a gin distillery at one and a half 
per cent, per annum; number twenty-one was a risk of 
twenty thousand dollars on a stock of dry goods at seventy- 
five cents a thousand, and number twenty-two a policy for 
twenty thousand dollars on a stock of hardware at twenty- 
five cents. Within a few weeks of its founding, the com- 
pany was taking risks thirty- three per cent, in excess of its 
cash receipts, and persons desiring insurance solicited it 
as a privilege from the company. For nine months ending 
in April, 181 1, the premiums were less than three thousand 
dollars, and interest and dividends six hundred and thirty- 
eight dollars. Care was taken to investigate the character 
of the owner of the property, and at first no commission was 
paid to agents, whose compensation came from the cost of 
the making of the survey and the policy fee. Agencies began 
to be planted from 181 1, in remote towns, such as Canan- 
daigua, New York, Haverhill, Greenfield, and Middlebury. 



Insurance 397 

All the companies made the mistake in years of pros- 
perity of dividing the profits so closely that only two or 
three survived the heavy losses that came eventually. In 
1835, at the time of the great New York fire, it was feared 
that no company could survive, but Eliphalet Terry, presi- 
dent of the Hartford Fire, having pledged his own property 
at the Hartford Bank as security for the drafts to be drawn, 
started in a sleigh with James Bolles, the secretary, with the 
mercury below zero, to grapple with the crisis. They found 
most of the insurance companies bankrupt, and a despond- 
ency that bordered on panic. Terry announced that he 
would pay in full all losses of the Hartford and take new 
insurance. It was the first sign of cheer in the gloom, 
and business poured in to such an extent that premiums 
multiplied, and the day of small things was left behind. 
The company pushed west and south; in 1867, George L. 
Chase of the western department was appointed president, 
and the new administration urged on the established policy 
with fresh vigor, aiming to have an agency in every settle- 
ment in the United States and Canada, where income bade 
fair to exceed outgo. The long season of unbroken prosperity 
was interrupted by the Chicago fire in 1871, and the company 
lost nearly two million dollars. The Hartford Bank again 
came to the rescue, and the Connecticut Mutual Life loaned 
the company half a million. Thirteen months later, the 
Boston fire called for nearly half a million, but the company 
met the drain out of current receipts. The small capital and 
large surplus of the Hartford give it a decided advantage, 
and the dividends are large enough to satisfy the most 
exacting shareholder. During Walter Mitchell's con- 
nection with the company the business was carried on in 
his law office on the site now occupied by the Courant 
building; in 1854, the company took quarters on Main Street, 
north of Pratt, and in 1870, it moved into its own building, 
at the corner of Pearl and Trumbull. 

The first incorporated insurance company in the state 



398 -A History of Connecticut 

still exists, and through all changes it holds fast to the 
simple plan of its founders. On the evening of December 
29, 1794, a number of substantial citizens of Norwich met 
to consider plans for mutual protection against losses by 
fire. They were tired of the old way of passing round the 
hat to aid a neighbor. A month later they met again, and 
approved a basis for an association in which every person 
joining agreed to pay a premium of one-half of one per cent, 
the first year, one-third the second, and one-fourth there- 
after. In 1795, the association was incorporated by the 
name of the Mutual Assurance Company of the City of 
Norwich. The company continues to do a modest and safe 
business. The Norwich Marine Insurance Company, which 
was chartered in 1803, in 18 18, became the Norwich Fire 
Insurance Company, the earliest stock company in the state, 
did a limited and hand to mouth business until the Chicago 
fire in 1871, when it ceased its quiet existence. The Middle- 
town Insurance Company was organized in 1803, and the 
Union of New London in 1805; the business of these com- 
panies was confined wholly to marine insurance, and during 
the embargo of 1807, the French spoliation seizures, and the 
war with England, they had a hard time, but those that 
weathered the storm flourished later, — the Norwich, by 
changing to fire insurance in 1818. 

There is a curious tradition connected with the JEtna 
Insurance Company, incorporated in 18 19, that the immedi- 
ate occasion of its forming was the fact that Walter Mitchell, 
first secretary and general factotum of the Hartford Fire, 
was rather heavy in his methods, requiring any one seeking 
insurance to go to his office at hours to suit the lawyer, who 
needed to start for his Wethersfield home at an early hour, 
especially when the mud was up to the hubs; the story 
goes that after enduring a continuous strain upon their 
patience, some of the Hartford merchants formed a new 
company, the ^Etna, which started with a capital of one 
hundred and fifty thousand dollars, with the privilege of 



Insurance 399 

increasing it to half a million. At the first meeting of the 
directors at Morgan's Coffee House, Thomas K. Brace was 
chosen president and Isaac Perkins secretary. The total 
expenses for the first year, including the secretary's salary of 
two hundred and twenty-five dollars, reached the total of 
four hundred and fifty dollars. It was a part of the policy 
of the JEtna to push the business of the company with 
energy, and there began at that time the practice of noting 
the differing results of insuring different classes of buildings 
and merchandise, and of collecting a classified list of risks, 
with a corresponding list of rates. This is said to have 
originated in the office of the ^tna, where the secretary 
was requested to keep a blank book in which he was to 
record statistics of fires as they were described in the news- 
papers, and to give an account of the kind of place and 
property in each case, a decided step toward the scientific 
treatment of insurance. This company initiated the radical 
departure of planting agencies at the more important 
centers of trade. In 1822, the directors voted to request the 
secretary "to journey on the seaboard of Massachusetts, 
New Hampshire and Maine, and from thence through the 
interior of the country, home, and establish agencies at all 
places where he may think proper, and for his service he 
shall be allowed his expenses and two dollars per day." 
The ^Etna was the first company to issue a policy in Chicago, 
having appointed Gurdon S. Hubbard to represent it there; 
for thirty years he did an extensive pioneer work in the 
cities of the Middle West and as far south as New Orleans. 
In 1843, the iEtna entered upon the risks of inland naviga- 
tion on cargoes of steamers and pole boats, but not on the 
boats themselves, nor on cargoes loaded on "that species 
of craft called boxes, arks or broad-horns." A policy was 
issued in 1859, at the rate of one-half of one per cent., on 
fifteen negroes, valued at sixteen thousand dollars. The 
JEtna escaped the great New York fire of 1835, but ten years 
later a six million dollar fire in New York cost this company 



400 A. History of Connecticut 

one hundred and fifteen thousand dollars. When the news 
reached Hartford, President Brace called a meeting of the 
directors, and they sat in silence while the safe was unlocked 
and the stocks and bonds taken out. The silence was broken 
by the question, "Mr. Brace, what will you do?" "Do?" 
he replied. "Go to New York and pay the losses, if it takes 
every dollar there, " pointing to the packages, "and my own 
fortune besides." "Good," responded the others, "we will 
stand with you with our fortunes also." Such an increase 
of premium-receipts followed that in twelve months the 
JEtna was as strong in cash as before. In 1853, it opened 
an office in Cincinnati, and soon a thousand agents were at 
work west of the Alleghenies, and wealth piled up. In 1857, 
the safe and able Thomas K. Brace, through whose influence 
mainly the ^Etna came into existence, resigned the presi- 
dency, and was followed by Edwin R. Ripley who began to 
arrange statistics in regard to relative hazards, a method 
which has been applied to every kind of risk, and has led to 
scientific underwriting. In 1835, the first blank proof of 
loss was issued, in a form which is substantially that in 
common use to-day, and two years later it issued the first 
chromo poster, picturing a steamer throwing a stream of 
water on a burning block; in 1857, it introduced the use of 
outline maps — germ of the Sanborn maps. The ^Etna has 
the largest capital in the world — four million dollars. 

The third great Hartford fire insurance company to or- 
ganize was the Protection, which was incorporated in 1825, 
with William Wolcott Ellsworth, son of the Chief Justice, as 
president, Thomas C. Perkins, the distinguished lawyer, 
as secretary, and the versatile and powerful Ephraim Robins 
as general agent, with an office at Cincinnati; and soon two 
hundred and fifty agents were at work in Ohio and neigh- 
boring states. The Protection was fortunate in the efficient 
services of Mark Howard, who in 1846, became a special 
agent for the exclusive work of supervision and adjust- 
ment ; in those days when there were few railroads, he went 



I 



nsurance 401 



from Maine to Louisiana, mostly by canal, stage and steam- 
boat. When the St. Louis fire came in 1849, Mark Howard 
walked through the deserted streets of the city devastated 
by the cholera, and paid in full the claims of his company. 
Correct views of conducting the business were slowly de- 
veloping. Like most of the other companies of the time, the 
Protection lived from hand to mouth. The necessity of 
reserves had not been learned. One-half of the capital was 
represented by stock-notes, and final statements were 
strained to make a fair showing. At last, on September 7, 
1854, the Protection collapsed, and three years later, the 
Merchants was chartered, with Mark Howard as president. 
In the management of this company, whose book of sub- 
scriptions was opened July 2, 1857, Howard insisted that 
success depended more on carefully selected lines of risks 
rather than on a large volume of premiums. This was the 
first company in Connecticut to repudiate building on 
stock-notes. Business increased rapidly and in a few 
years it was supposed to be impregnable, but in October, 
1871, the Chicago fire came, with a loss of over a million, 
five times the amount of the capital of the Merchants, 
and nearly half a million in excess of its entire assets, 
and there was only one thing to do: everything was 
sold and the proceeds applied. It was then decided to 
continue the business of the Merchants under the charter 
of the National, a charter for which had been secured two 
years before, and Mark Howard was elected president and 
James Nichols secretary. The prosperity of this company 
has been substantial. President Howard died in 1 887, leaving 
the memory of a man of lofty ideals and devotion to prin- 
ciple. His instruction book, which he prepared for the 
Protection about 1848, was the most elaborate of any ever 
issued, becoming the basis of similar books that have 
followed. There for the first time appeared the definitions 
of insurance terms, the treatment of moral hazard, local and 
internal hazard, and full instruction for the inspection of 
26 



402 .A History of Connecticut 

risks. He also gave standards for the rating of many risks, 
forms of policy for many hazards, and for the first time the 
three-quarter value clause. 

The Mutual Security Company, organized in New Haven 
in 1 84 1, for a time confined itself mainly to marine business, 
but in 1872, it reduced its marine risks and extended its 
fire business until it had a thousand agencies. It is a 
favorite company in New Haven, and justly, because of the 
character of the officers. The Connecticut Fire Insurance 
Company was organized in Hartford in 1850, with Benjamin 
W. Greene as president, and John B. Eldredge secretary. 
The policy deliberately chosen was one of conservatism so 
positive that it was said that if the president insured a load 
of pig iron in a ten-acre lot, he would lie awake nights fearing 
that it might take fire with spontaneous combustion. It is 
not strange that he was cautious, for he had protested 
against the dangerous policy of the Protection, of which 
he was a director. Safety rather than large receipts was 
the watchword. In 1871, the company was brought near 
the brink of ruin by the Chicago fire; a settlement was 
made whereby the Connecticut Fire saved its charter and 
its plant, increased its capital to half a million, and passed 
on into a strong career. No one else contributed more to 
this fine achievement than John D. Browne, whose record 
from his home in Plainville, as secretary and president of the 
company, is of the highest character. Conservative in judg- 
ment, tireless in energy and of sterling integrity, his service 
was priceless. In 1885, the company completed its home 
office, a beautiful building after the Byzantine style, 
situated on Prospect Street. 

The Phcenix was organized in 1854, an d with Simeon 
L. Loomis president and Henry Kellogg secretary, the com- 
pany sprang swiftly to a strong position. It took the lead 
in planting agencies up and down the Pacific coast. In 
1 87 1, the Phcenix had accumulated nearly two million 
dollars of solid assets, which enabled it to pay in full the 



Insurance 403 

Chicago losses of nearly a million dollars. At the time of the 
fire, Marshall Jewell, a large stockholder and director, 
happening to be in Detroit, hurried to the spot at the re- 
quest of the president, mounted a dry-goods box in the 
presence of the half -crazed crowd, he announced that the 
company would pay all the losses in full, and he drew his 
check for ten thousand dollars for the first claim presented. 
Immediately the Tribune dropped from its window a huge 
placard, announcing that the Phoenix had begun to pay all 
its loss in full. The news spread, and the crowd laughed, 
cheered, and cried by turns. The growth of the company 
of late has been vigorous. 

The Orient, organized in 1871, was the lineal successor 
of the City Fire Insurance Company, which ceased after 
the Chicago fire. Under careful management the com- 
pany has had decided success, enduring the heavy blow 
from the Boston fire; moving on into a strong position, 
which has been reinforced by coming under the controlling 
influence of the London and Lancashire in 1900, and since 
that time it has gone on faster than ever. The quarters 
of the Orient were moved in 1904, from the Goodwin build- 
ing on Asylum Street to a handsome structure opposite the 
capitol, the first departure from the insurance section of 
the city, an example soon to be followed by the Rossia 
Insurance Company of St. Petersburg, which has secured a 
site at the corner of Broad Street and Farmington Avenue. 
In 1880, the Scottish Union and National Insurance Com- 
pany of Edinburgh and the Lion Fire of London made Hart- 
ford their headquarters. There are many other companies 
of those chartered by the Assembly that deserve mention; 
nearly forty mutual companies have been incorporated in 
different parts of the state, such as the Hartford County 
Mutual, Middlesex Mutual, New London County Mutual, 
Farmington Valley Mutual, and Litchfield Mutual. Con- 
necticut has become a noted center for fire insurance, and 
in no other department of business has the ability of many 



404 -A. History of Connecticut 

of the ablest men of the state been more clearly seen than in 
this. The true principles of insurance have been learned 
by study and often by heavy losses. Five of the nine Hart- 
ford companies in existence at the time of the Chicago fire 
went out of commission then, and the aggregate of the 
losses which the nine companies endured was eleven million 
dollars. 

It is interesting to consider that in the early years some 
of the companies furnished fire sacks to the firemen to aid in 
removing goods from burning buildings, and it was voted 
in 1 8 19, that the Hartford Fire Insurance Company appro- 
priate twenty dollars toward the ''watch of the city." As 
late as 1840, every able-bodied man in Hartford was re- 
quired to attend fires whenever they came, and whatever 
the weather, or pay a fine of two dollars. Water for the 
flames was often carried by the bucket brigade, which 
formed a double line to the nearest well, stream, or pond, 
and the hand engines often performed valuable service. In 
times of strain, when millions were going up in smoke, and 
also while the flames were consuming cottage or barn, peace 
of mind has come to many through their confidence in the 
sterling character of the fire insurance companies of Con- 
necticut. Many foreign companies have their principal 
places of business in Hartford, and among fire companies 
of recent origin the Standard is prominent. 

After fifty years of success with marine and fire insurance, 
the question arose in Hartford, "Why not apply this princi- 
ple to the securing of similar benefits upon life?" It was 
Pinckney W. Ellsworth, agent of the International of 
London, and James L. Howard, who had taken out a policy 
in the Mutual Benefit of New Jersey, and had accepted the 
agency of that company, who first called the attention of the 
people to the value of life insurance. Several prominent 
men took out policies in the Mutual Benefit, and soon the 
"interests and objects" of this form of protection were the 
talk of the town. There were prejudices in some minds 



Insurance 405 

against an attempt to gamble with death and to put a stake 
upon the decrees of the Almighty, but this opposition soon 
died away as common sense came to the front, and in 1846, 
a charter was granted to ten representative citizens of 
Hartford, to all others who were to become "members 
or associates with them" and to their successors to form 
the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company. The 
directors thought their way carefully into an organization 
which protected the company from disaster in the early 
years, and led the way later to a distinguished success as 
a mutual company. 

The element that gave a certain security for a time 
was the Guarantee Fund — a fund of fifty thousand dollars 
formed by individual notes secured by at least one respon- 
sible name, one-half payable in five years and the other half 
in ten years, or sooner if required by the company. On 
December 7, 1846, the entire amount had been taken up 
and the company was launched with the watchword, 
Family Protection. No risk greater than five thousand 
dollars was taken on any life, and all premiums amounting 
to fifty dollars on policies running for five years or more 
could be paid one-half in cash, and the remainder in a year 
with surety, bearing interest at the rate of six per cent., 
subject to assessments if required for losses. The premium 
note system which had been used in fire insurance enabled 
people to take out larger policies than their ready cash 
admitted, was a favorite feature of the early practice, and 
a powerful factor in the majority of companies of the 
country until 1869, when it was abandoned by the Con- 
necticut Mutual, largely on account of the attitude of the in- 
surance superintendent of New York, though Elizur Wright 
calls it " the safest possible investment of the company." The 
guarantee capital was retired in 1856, when the assets of the 
company were over two millions and there was twenty-three 
millions of insurance; thus the Connecticut Mutual Life 
Insurance Company became purely mutual. 



406 j\. History of Connecticut 

There was little scientific knowledge of insurance in the 
country before i860, and the method of disposing of the 
surplus was by a rule of thumb. Until 1869, the Mutual 
divided the surplus each year among the members by an 
equal percentage upon the premiums paid by each, on the 
assumption that each policy produced a proportionate 
percentage of the surplus. The injustice of this to the older 
policy-holders becoming apparent, in 1869, the Contribu- 
tion plan was adopted ; a more intricate but more equitable 
method, used by this and other companies. This company 
was among the first to enter the then so-called western 
field of investments, and its first loan there was in 1853; 
the security was good, the rate of interest attractive, 
and the results so favorable that in 1881, the company 
decided to take on farm loans, in which it has invested 
since April 1, 1882, one hundred and six million dollars. 
It has also put millions into bonds of western cities and 
states, and the amount of delinquent interest has been merely 
nominal. In the early times, failure to pay premiums uni- 
versally forfeited the policy, and in 1864, the Connecticut 
Mutual changed the form of its contracts so as to give 
members the full value of past premiums in paid-up insur- 
ance, when they found it inconvenient to continue to meet 
the annual premiums. In the years following the Civil 
War, an effort made by real estate speculative operators 
to use the funds of the Connecticut Mutual met a flat 
refusal by President Goodwin, and the conservatism of this 
company appears in a decision, in which it led the 
way among the companies to reckon on earning three 
per cent, instead of four on the assets. Though much 
criticized at the time, the good judgment of this move 
has been generally recognized, and this method has been 
widely adopted. The Connecticut Mutual also declined 
to adopt the Tontine principle, believing it to be speculative 
and depraved, a position which ushered the company 
into what has been called the "Thirty Years' Warfare," 



Insurance 407 

leading to a complete vindication of its policy. It has now 
about seventy thousand members, carrying two hundred 
and nine millions of insurance, and the accumulated funds 
amount to seventy millions. Its office building at the 
corner of Main and Pearl streets, Hartford, is of granite, 
and is one of the noblest structures in the state. Among the 
leaders of the Connecticut Mutual was James Goodwin, 
president of the company for thirty years until his death in 
1878, a man of exceptional ability in conducting loans and 
investments. No abler man or more positive force for wise 
and honorable insurance has appeared in Connecticut than 
Colonel Jacob L. Greene, a distinguished soldier in the 
Civil War, who was president of the Connecticut Mutual 
Life Insurance Company for twenty-seven years; dying 
in office in 1905, he was succeeded by John M. Taylor. 

The short lives of several companies are a part of the 
history of insurance, and one of this sad group is the Ameri- 
can Mutual Life Insurance Company of New Haven, which 
was incorporated in 1847, with Professor Benjamin Silliman 
as president. The low rates and the fame of the president 
gave the company a brilliant start at first, but careless 
management involved it in difficulties. It began with the 
assumption that it could realize six per cent, on all the funds 
in the treasury, and it made on that basis contracts, which 
were liable to run fifty years. After a dismal experience 
it was merged in 1866, in the American National Life In- 
surance Company, with a capital stock of not less than one 
hundred thousand dollars. In 1871, the name was changed 
to the American National Life and Trust Company, and 
after a wretched career of folly and crime, the receiver 
closed the trust in 1893. The Connecticut Health Insurance 
Company, starting in 1848, was a premature attempt to 
take up risks which the Connecticut Mutual declined. 
It was well officered, and occupied the block it built for 
itself on Pearl Street, now owned and occupied by the 
State Bank. It tried the experiment of insuring negro 



408 A. History of Connecticut 

slaves and coolies by ship-loads, and though premiums were 
high, the most unprincipled masters took out policies; 
Cato, Jim, and Tom could not be identified, so the shippers 
had the advantage, and knowing the percentage of loss, 
arranged terms to suit themselves. The company ceased 
in 1857. 

The Charter Oak Life Insurance Company began busi- 
ness in 1850, with brilliant expectations, under the leadership 
of its president, Gideon Welles, who soon resigned. Many 
of the agents were men of high character and wide influence, 
and by 1869, new insurance was issued to the amount of 
eighteen million dollars, but the home management was 
reckless, weak and wasteful; large sums were loaned to 
the Valley Railway, an expensive building erected at the 
corner of Main and Athenaeum streets, and while vigorous 
efforts were made to resist dissolution, in 1885, it went into 
the hands of a receiver, and the policy-holders received less 
than twenty cents on a dollar. In the same class with the 
Charter Oak is the Continental, which was organized in 
1864; after years of crookedness, in which the president 
and secretary played hide-and-seek with securities and com- 
missions of investigation, in 1886, it passed into the hands 
of receivers, and is forgotten except by those who suffered 
from the perjury of its officers. 

The Connecticut General Life Insurance Company was 
chartered in 1866, with a capital of half a million dollars, 
largely through the energy of Dr. Guy R. Phelps, with the 
idea of insuring men who could not pass an examination for 
regular insurance, and to charge them higher rates. The 
plan was not a success, and it was soon abandoned. From 
the date of the change the company has steadily grown, not 
seeking great size, but eager for careful risks and solid 
assets. The presidency of Thomas W. Russell, from 1876, 
to 1 90 1, was eminently prosperous, and the long service 
of the first vice-president, P. Henry Woodward, deserves 
mention, as does his valuable work in sketching the early 



Insurance 409 

history of insurance companies. The first offices of the 
Connecticut General were on Central Row, and now the 
home is in a commodious building on Pearl Street. 

The Hartford Life and Annuity Insurance Company 
was chartered in 1866, as the Hartford Accident Insurance 
Company, with the privilege of insuring on the life plan. 
When it appeared shortly that accident insurance was 
unprofitable the name was changed to the present title, and 
in 1868, the accident feature was dropped. There were 
trying years, but in 1880, a form of natural premium insur- 
ance was adopted, combining low cost and security, requir- 
ing policy-holders to pay only for the actual mortality of 
the members, as it occurs in quarterly periods. Applicants 
pay a fee according to the amount of insurance, an annual 
fee for expenses, and a fee for the safety fund, maintained 
at one million dollars. It is the first insurance company in 
the country to do business on an assessment plan with 
ample security, — a plan which this company has found to 
be rational, safe, and profitable. 

The year after its incorporation in 18 19, the ^Etna Fire 
Insurance Company obtained an amendment to its charter, 
authorizing it to grant annuities upon an additional capital. 
This privilege was never exercised, and in 1850, the ^tna 
Insurance Company Annuity Fund was organized with the 
same officers as the parent company. In 1853, it was 
decided that it would be best to separate the control of the 
two institutions, and the ^Etna Life Insurance Company 
was launched, with E. A. Bulkley as president. For ten 
years the growth was slow, and the policies were written 
on the proprietary plan, but in 1861, it began to issue 
policies on the mutual plan also, giving applicants the choice 
between the two methods, and the development became 
more rapid, being conducted with caution and energy. This 
company was among the first to loan money to farmers in 
Illinois and Iowa; the rate was ten percent., and there was 
seldom a default, since trained and careful agents were on 



410 .A. History of Connecticut 

the field. It had similar success in its large investments in 
the bonds of prosperous western cities, bearing seven and 
three-tenths per cent, interest. In 1891, it opened an acci- 
dent department, and six years later it had in force nearly 
eighty million dollars in accident insurance, with more than 
eighteen thousand policies. In sixty years, the company 
has passed from its home in a small room upstairs on State 
Street to the elegant building on Main Street. There was 
organized in 1907, a distinct company with a capital of half 
a million dollars owned by JEtna Life stockholders, a distinct 
company called the JEtna. Accident and Liability Company, 
to cover property losses through accident, and it has been 
highly successful. 

Following a temperance reform, there was organized, in 
1 85 1, the American Temperance Life Insurance Company, 
and on the strength of the belief that total abstainers live 
much longer than others, the founders of the company, 
meeting at the office of the Fountain, a leading temperance 
journal, and making Benjamin E. Hale, the editor of that 
paper, president, announced that the policies would be 
issued at about ten per cent, below current rates. There were 
difficulties from the question which arose in case of a death 
claim — whether the person had kept the pledge. After 
a time the order was put forth that with every proof of 
death there should be a special certificate declaring that the 
insured had not forgotten the abstinence provision in the 
application. Alter the temperance wave had passed, and 
the question of slavery had come to the front, in view of the 
fact that the company was not popular, it was decided in 
1 861, to abandon the temperance feature and by act of the 
legislature the name was changed to the Phoenix Mutual 
Life Insurance Company, and it soon sprang to fresh vigor. 
In 1889, permission was granted by the legislature to make 
the Phcenix purely mutual, and since that time the progress 
of the company has been rapid, so that it has reached a 
secure place among the solid institutions of the country. 



Insurance 41 1 

In 1863, while passing through England, James G. 
Batterson became interested in casualty insurance, and 
was convinced that the system could be advantageously 
transplanted to the United States, and in May, 1863, he 
petitioned the legislature for an act of incorporation as a 
"railway passenger insurance company" under the name of 
the Travelers Insurance Company, to cover loss of life 
and personal injury while traveling by railway, steamboat, 
or any other mode of conveyance. The following year the 
charter was amended to permit the company to insure 
against all kinds of accidents, and James G. Batterson, a 
native of Bloomfield, was chosen president. The company 
began in the humblest way ; the first office was on the second 
floor to save rent, and was furnished with two chairs and a 
second-hand pine desk set on a cheap table. For a time 
the officers did the work, staying late into the night to 
learn the principles of this new form of insurance, and after 
a time they indulged in the luxury of an office boy. The 
contagion started by the Travelers spread, and in 1865, 
and 1866, a swarm of competitors entered the field, and 
soon died. At the first meeting of the stockholders it was 
voted to increase the capital from two hundred thousand 
dollars to two hundred and fifty thousand. At the end of 
1865, a stock dividend of twenty-five per cent, was ordered. 
Since then the company has grown to its present propor- 
tions, and its strength is symbolized by the massive building 
which houses it. 

Another and a novel form of insurance successful in 
Connecticut is the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and 
Insurance Company, which was chartered in 1866, "for 
inspecting steam boilers, and for insuring against loss or 
damage to property arising from explosions or other accident 
in the use of steam boilers." J. M. Allen, who was born in 
Enfield, was chosen president, and the most rigid economy 
was practiced; for five years the company occupied a room 
eighteen feet square, but the work was thorough, a costly 



412 .A History of Connecticut 

and scientific study was made of boilers, and approved 
ways suggested to reduce disasters. A monthly journal, 
the Locomotive, was published, and distributed by the 
thousands. Boilers under its care are visited by experts, 
and the matter of riveting joints has been worked out 
scientifically. A chemical laboratory to analyze water and 
point out counter-agents to that which corrodes or pro- 
duces scales is maintained, and the business has grown to 
the care of thousands of boilers, largely because the company 
prefers to go to heavy expense to prevent accident rather 
than to meet the cost of disaster. It is found that the an- 
nual explosions average about one one-hundredth of one 
per cent, of boilers insured. 

Of late there has been a widening of the field of insurance 
to cover burglary, automobiles, plate glass, employers' 
liability, fly wheels, tornadoes, real estate titles and general 
liability; many of the best financiers are enlisted in pro- 
moting vast and powerful methods of conserving business, 
protecting the interests and increasing the welfare of the 
people. Every variety of policy that inventive minds can 
think of is offered to meet every taste and desire, and to 
provide against all possible dangers to property and life. 
The business of suretyship, generally classed as a branch of 
insurance, but sometimes regarded as having few elements 
of insurance in it, has been tried in Connecticut. The 
Mtna, Indemnity Company, chartered in 1897, succumbed 
after a few years. The ^Etna Accident and Liability Com- 
pany has recently begun this kind of business, and is now 
entirely engaged in it. The assessment form of insurance, 
so common a quarter of a century ago, also prevailed to a 
considerable extent in the state. Most of the companies 
engaged in that form of insurance went into involuntary 
insolvency, and to-day there are none of Connecticut origin 
remaining and doing an active business here. The so-called 
industrial business, which is the insuring of the lives of those 
to whom the payment of large sums would be a hardship, 



Insurance 413 

a business that calls for the payment of small sums every 
week or month, has also been tried in Connecticut, though 
with little success. The People's of Norwich was organized 
for this purpose, but it reinsured its risks about twenty 
years ago. The legislature granted a charter in 191 1, to 
the First Reinsurance Company of Hartford, allowing the 
company to reinsure any kind of risk, life, fire, accident, or 
whatever it may be, a form of insurance entirely new to 
this country, though in vogue in Europe for years. The 
General Assembly of 1913, took action leading toward a 
completion of earlier laws to bring fraternal organizations 
under state supervision and to place them on a solid basis. 
The Compensation Act to secure to workingmen compensa- 
tion in case of injury or death through accident was also 
passed in 191 3, and arrangements made to determine the 
awards. Manifold and varied is insurance in Connecticut, 
which has grown to vast proportions, a system in which 
sagacity and benevolence combine to soften the ills of dis- 
aster and provide for the uncertain future. 



CHAPTER XXXI 
TRANSPORTATION 

IT was a long step from the tiresome stage-coach and the 
weary haul over poor roads and up steep hills, to the 
fast trains ; from the schooners and sloops that went creeping 
along rivers and Sound, to daily steamboats, tugs, and 
freighters ; but the change came as factories rose, cities grew 
populous, and business urged. Connecticut was decidedly 
conservative in the introduction of railroads, and if John 
Fitch, whose invention of the art of applying steam to navi- 
gation, had been encouraged in his native state, he might 
have been spared his sad end, and steamboats might have 
been plying on the Connecticut River several years before 
the days of Fulton. There was much opposition to the new 
method of carrying people and freight, arising from various 
worries: farmers feared that horses would lose value, and 
hay and grain cease to sell; landlords shrank from bank- 
ruptcy ; stage-drivers saw their stages in the scrap-heap and 
themselves in the poorhouse; owners of coasting vessels 
dreaded competition, and there was an uneasy feeling 
prevailing that the revenue which was left at the toll-gates 
of the turnpikes would fill the fat coffers of the railroad 
corporations. The Sound, the Thames, and the Connecticut 
were doing their best to meet the needs of the people, and 
in the year 1822, a business man who had an appointment 
in New York could leave Hartford for Saybrook on the 
steamboat Experiment, Captain Haskell, on Tuesday or 

414 



Transportation 415 

Friday, and return on the following day. But it was well 
known that the Erie Canal with its two hundred and sixty 
miles was open, and public-spirited men of New Haven 
determined to have a water communication with the 
interior. 

The growing desire for an extensive waterway north- 
ward came to a practical plan on January 29, 1822, when 
there was a meeting of citizens of seventeen towns at Farm- 
ington. In May of that year, the Farmington Canal 
Company was chartered to construct a canal from the tide- 
waters of New Haven to Southwick, Massachusetts, to 
connect with the Hampden and Hampshire Canal in 
Massachusetts, and that was to be continued northward 
to the St. Lawrence River. This grand scheme was expected 
to rival the Erie Canal. Subscriptions came in slowly 
until the plan was formed of giving the Mechanics Bank 
of New Haven a charter, on condition that it would subscribe 
two hundred thousand dollars of stock of the Canal Com- 
pany. On July 4, 1825, the ceremony of beginning the 
excavations took place in Granby in the presence of two or 
three thousand people. In 1828, the canal was complete 
from Southwick Ponds to Long Island Sound, and water 
was let in. There were great celebrations and large ex- 
pectations, and for seven years there was considerable 
business done. In 1835, the canal was finished to the 
Connecticut River. The company did not own the boats, 
but allowed any one to use it on paying toll; this barely 
paid the ordinary expenses of the company, while the heavy 
debt and extensive damages to the canal in 1836, made it 
necessary that some measure of relief be found. It was 
decided that the New Haven and Northampton Company 
should be formed, and the stock of the Farmington Canal 
Company was relinquished. The new organization came 
into existence June 22, 1836, with a net capital of $120,184. 
About that time there appeared a rival more formidable 
even than the river. On December 3, 1838, the Hartford 



416 A. History of Connecticut 

and New Haven Railroad was opened from New Haven to 
Meriden, and the time over the eighteen miles was fifty- 
seven minutes. The canal did not cease its work at once; 
in 1 84 1, it was extended to the upper parts of Vermont and 
New Hampshire. Boats were plying on the canal until 
1845, when a heavy drought followed by a serious breach 
in the embankment so discouraged the stockholders that 
no further advances were made; in 1848, a railroad was 
opened from New Haven to Plainville, and the Farmington 
Canal became a thing of the past. 

The people in the eastern part of the state, being largely 
interested in manufacturing, and learning from the experi- 
ence of Massachusetts and Rhode Island that railroads 
would soon be indispensable, petitioned the legislature for 
the incorporation of a company to build a railroad from 
Norwich to New London, and also one from Norwich toward 
Boston. In May, 1832, a charter was granted to the Boston, 
Norwich, and New London Railroad Company, authorizing 
a capital stock of ten thousand shares. In 1836, this com- 
pany was consolidated with the Norwich and Worcester 
Railroad Company ; it was open for traffic between Norwich 
and New London on December 14, 1839, and with Worcester 
in the following March. At the same session of the legisla- 
ture articles of incorporation were granted for a railroad, 
to begin at the western border line of the town of Sharon, 
to run northerly through Salisbury, to the northern boundary 
of the state. Privilege was also granted to make an exten- 
sion in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, to intersect other 
railroads. A franchise was given to build a railroad from 
Stonington to the eastern boundary of the state, under the 
name of the New York and Stonington Railroad Company. 
In 1833, this road was consolidated with the New York, 
Providence and Boston Railroad Company. The road was 
open for traffic, November 10, 1837, connections being 
made with New York by steamers. 

In 1835, the legislature granted articles of incorporation 



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Transportation 417 

for a road between Hartford and New Haven. The road 
was open from New Haven to Meriden in 1838, and in the 
next year to Hartford. Through passengers were carried 
from Hartford to Springfield by stage-coaches, there to 
connect with the Western Railroad for Boston. The 
decade 1840-50, known as the Railroad Era, gave a vigorous 
impetus to the industry, and in Connecticut the mileage 
rose from one hundred and seventeen to five hundred and 
fifty-one. On December 19, 1848, the New York and 
New Haven Railroad was opened to the public, thereby 
completing an all-rail connection between Boston and New 
York, and three trains were run daily between New Haven 
and New York. On July 22, 1852, trains began to run 
between New London and New Haven, and in 1858, from 
New London to Stonington, making a second continuous 
rail route from New York to Boston. It took the name of 
Shore Line. Charters were granted to several other com- 
panies to build roads in the era of railroad fever following 
1840, until the state was well covered: Middletown and 
Berlin in 1844; the New Haven and Northampton in 1846; 
New London Northern in 1847; Valley Railroad in 1870; 
and the Boston and New York Air Line was completed from 
New Haven to Willimantic in 1873. 

The railroad from Willimantic to Fishkill had a trying 
time from the year 1833, when the Assembly granted a 
charter to build a road from Hartford to Bolton, to 1881, 
when the road from Waterbury to Brewster was completed, 
and the same year to Fishkill on the Hudson. Failing to 
pay expenses, on December 31, 1883, it was placed in the 
hands of a receiver. The consolidation in 1872, of the New 
York and New Haven and the New Haven, Hartford, and 
Springfield companies, known as the Consolidated Road, 
created a corporation, absorbing nearly all the other roads of 
the state. The Hartford and Connecticut Western was 
opened to the public in 1871, and it has since been bought 
by the Consolidated Company. 



418 A. History of Connecticut 

In 1850, the General Assembly created a board of three 
commissioners to be known as Railroad Commissioners, 
whose duty it was to examine the railroads of the state 
twice a year or oftener, and they were authorized to require 
corporations to make repairs necessary for the safety of the 
public. The act was amended in 1853, and the duties of the 
Commissioners more fully specified; they were empowered 
to oblige the companies to use all safeguards to prevent 
injuries. Blanks were to be furnished the corporations, on 
which full statistics and returns were required. The 
officials were requested to notify the commissioners, within 
twenty-four hours, of all accidents attended with serious 
personal injuries. The commissioners make an annual 
report to the legislature, and in their report of 1855-56, not 
quite a quarter of a century from the time of the granting 
of the first railroad charter, they stated that the capital 
stock of the corporations operating in Connecticut was 
over twenty-three million dollars, of which over eighteen 
millions was paid in; that these companies operated seven 
hundred and seventy-two miles of road, of which five 
hundred and ninety was within the state; that the cost of 
construction and equipment had been over twenty-nine 
millions. The capital stock in 1913, was over one hundred 
millions, and there are more than a thousand miles of rail- 
road in the state. 

In 1907, an important Commission on Public Service 
Corporations was appointed by the legislature, and two years 
later it advised the appointment of a permanent Public 
Utilities Commission to be in session all the time: to grant 
franchises, supervise condemnation of land and capitalization 
of corporations, ascertain the facts concerning the financial 
and physical conditions, also the causes of accidents, to super- 
vise their operation so far as affects the public safety and to 
establish rates, when existing rates are purely supervisory. 
In accordance with these recommendations, the legislature 
in 191 1, appointed such an advisory commission. 



Transportation 419 

With the immense increase of business and traffic in and 
across the state, it is not surprising that the railroads should 
come together into a vast system with connections by water 
and with neighboring states. The New York, New Haven, 
and Hartford Company controlled briefly a large part of the 
railroads of New England. It has acqiiired many electric 
roads, and is introducing electricity as a motive power on its 
main line. Grade crossings are being removed, steel cars 
introduced, the block system adopted, germs held up by 
hygienic drinking cups, palace and dining cars multiplied, 
and fast trains installed. 

The street-car system is an interesting and important 
feature of transportation. On June 18, 1859, a charter was 
granted the Hartford and Wethersfleld Horse Rail Road 
Company to lay tracks between the two places, and in the 
following year the Fair Haven and Westville Company was 
chartered to gridiron New Haven. Since then a large 
number of companies has been incorporated, of which the 
capital stock in 1912, was $62,670,100, bonds $19,217,000. 
taxes to the state $455,155. The change from horses to 
electricity as motive power [began in the summer of 1895, 
with a company in Ansonia, and in September, a month 
later, the Hartford and Wethersfleld line was equipped with 
the trolley. Express cars are run on some of the roads, also 
baggage and freight cars, to carry local freight, cracked 
stone for the highway and other uses, peaches, apples, and 
coal. It is found that, on the average, the entire population 
in the suburbs of the cities makes a trip to the local metropolis 
at least once a week. It is plain that Connecticut has 
traveled long since Levi Pease drove his "old and shackling" 
wagons on the Boston stage route. 



CHAPTER XXXII 
THE POOR LAW 

ALMOST from the beginning, it became necessary for 
the authorities to take action concerning the care of 
paupers, semi-paupers, and vagrants, or, as they came to 
be known in later years, tramps; as the population in- 
creased, and the civilization became more complex, the 
problems multiplied, and the strain widened. In 1690, 
the Lords of the Plantation Committee of the English 
Privy Council asked from Connecticut a detailed statement 
of the condition of the colony; one question was: "What 
provision is there made ... for relieving poor, decayed, 
and impotent persons?" The colonial government replied: 
"For the poor, it is ordered that they be relieved by the 
towns where they live, every town providing for its own poor; 
and so for impotent persons. There is seldom any relief 
because labor is dear, viz. two shillings and sometimes, two 
shillings sixpence a day for a day laborer, and provision 
cheap." This suggests the Connecticut system of relief 
for the poor — a town matter. In March, 1640, Hartford 
voted to set aside twenty acres on the east side of the river 
"for the accommodating of several poor men that the town 
shall think meet to accommodate there." This is the first 
trace we find in the colony of what afterward developed into 
the poor-farm, and soon after this New Haven took the 
first steps toward adopting two other methods which be- 
came prominent later. One was the partial relief of people 

420 



THe Poor Law 421 

in their own homes. In 1645, the proposition was made 
to the court that ''Sister Lampson should be provided for 
at the town's charge, so far forth as her husband is not able 
to do it." There is no statement of action by the town, but 
it may be inferred from the fact that action was taken, 
since three years later, she was in the home of the marshal. 
The other method was used in 1657, for the relief of persons, 
who, it was reported, had arrived in Southold after suffering 
many hardships. They had been relieved by the town, and 
the court ordered that five pounds be allowed toward their 
support, the sum to be paid by Southold, and deducted from 
the next town tax payable to the colony. This was the 
beginning of relief by the colony, through the towns. 

It was thought necessary, almost from the start, to 
guard against imposition in the support of strangers. As 
early as February, 1636, the head of a family was forbidden 
to entertain any young man as a member of the family 
without permission from the inhabitants of the town. 
Neither could a young man, who was unmarried or without 
a servant, keep house by himself without permission, unless 
he was a public officer. Twenty shillings a week was the 
penalty for violating either provision. In 1673, the power 
to permit a householder to take boarders was vested in the 
selectmen. In 1639, Hartford voted that any one enter- 
taining one "not admitted an inhabitant in the town above 
one month without leave from the town," was "to dis- 
charge the town of any cost or trouble that" might "come 
thereby, and be liable to be called in question for the same." 
Similar action was taken by New Haven in 1656. The head 
of the family was to "observe the course, carriage, and 
behavior, of every single person, whether he walk diligently 
in a constant lawful employment, attending both family 
duties and the public worship of God, and keeping good 
order day and night." The penalty for taking boarders, 
or boarding contrary to law, was a fine. The Assembly, 
in 1667, voted to prohibit entertainment [of strangers, and 



4 22 -A. History of Connecticut 

ordered that any person coming into a town and remaining 
there, after being warned to depart, was to be punished by a 
fine of twenty shillings a week, or either sitting in the stocks 
for an hour every week or receiving corporal punishment. 
The reason for the passage of this act was that "certain 
persons have thrust themselves into the several plantations 
to the unjust disturbance of the same." The purpose of 
these laws was to keep out undesirable elements and prevent 
the admission of those who were likely to become public 
charges. In the law of 1656, passed by the New Haven 
colony, no one was to entertain a stranger who came to 
settle or sojourn, or sell or lease to him any real estate, or to 
permit him to remain more than a month, without the 
written permission of a local magistrate, or a majority of the 
freemen, under penalty of ten pounds. Masters were re- 
quired to provide for servants in illness, and if the illness was 
due to the fault of the master, he might be responsible for 
maintenance, or recompense for a longer time. Otherwise 
the plantation provided for the sick servant. It was also 
ordered that if any person, with or without license, should 
sojourn in a plantation for a whole year, he should be ac- 
counted an inhabitant there. This was the first law in 
Connecticut by which one could gain residence by a mere 
settlement, including the right to support without danger of 
removal. These laws of the New Haven colony were in 
force only until the union with Connecticut, but they em- 
body principles which were adopted in substance in the 
united colony. 

As early as 1650, the Court of magistrates was consid- 
ered the authority to settle "all differences about the 
lawful settling and providing for poor persons," and also 
to dispose of "all unsettled persons, into such towns as 
they shall judge to be most fit for the maintenance and 
employment of such persons and families for the ease of 
the country." Another step forward was taken in 1673, 
when it was ordered that 



THe Poor Law 423 

every town shall maintain their own poor. If any person come 
to live in any town and be there received and entertained three 
months, if by sickness, lameness or the like, he comes to want 
of relief; he shall be provided for by that town, and shall be re- 
puted their proper charge, unless within the said three months 
he has been warned by the constable, or by some one or more of 
the selectmen, not there to abide without leave first obtained 
from the town. 

In 1682, another law was passed to head off people of 
"ungoverned conversation," who were thrusting themselves 
into the towns, often proving vicious and burdensome. It 
was ordered that no persons but "prentices under age or 
servants bought for hire" may reside in any township 
without permission from the justices of the peace and the 
selectmen, under penalty of twenty shillings a week. A 
fresh clause was added to the old law, providing that the 
vagrant or suspected person was to be "sent from constable 
to constable to the place from whence they come, unless 
they produce good certificate that they are persons of 
good behavior, and free from all engagements, and at liberty 
to remove themselves where they may best advantage 
themselves." 

In 1690, a still more stringent law was passed, designed 
to prevent negro slaves from running away, but it was made 
to apply to "vagrant or suspected persons found wandering 
from town to town having no passes." Ferrymen were 
ordered to stop them and take them before the next justice, 
to examine and dispose of according to law. In the revision 
of 1702, these laws were brought together under the title, 
"Inhabitants, whom to be admitted." 

1. Only those of an "honest conversation, accepted by 
the major part of the town." 

2. No transients, except apprentices under age and 
servants bought for time, without approval of authority 
and selectmen. 

3. A fine of twenty shillings a week for the use of the 



424 .A. History of Connecticut 

poor of the town was to be paid by persons letting a house 
to or entertaining such people, unless security was given 
to save the town from expense. 

4. Vagrants and suspects were to be sent from constable 
to constable to the place whence they came, and it was 
added that if they returned after warning and still remained 
in town, they should be "severely whipped, not exceeding 
ten stripes." 

5. No single person might be entertained, save by per- 
mission of selectmen. 

6. All boarders and sojourners in a family were to 
"carefully attend the worship of God in those families where 
they reside, and be subject to the domestic government of 
the same, upon penalty of forfeiting five shillings for every 
breach of this act." 

The laws of 1702, provided for the care of unsettled 
persons who fell ill after a residence of three months. There 
were early tokens of the desire of the towns to force people 
to take care of their relatives. In 1651, on the application 
of the selectmen of Hartford, who complained that John 
Lord had "withdrawn himself from his wife and left her 
destitute of a bed to lodge on, and very bare in apparel, to 
the endangering of her health, " it was voted that they "re- 
quire of the said John Lord the wearing apparel of his wife, 
and also a bed for her to lodge on, and also to search after 
the same in any place within this jurisdiction, and to restore 
it unto her." Usually the colony allowed every town to 
enforce the duty of support upon its own inhabitants. 

By the revision of 1702, in a chapter entitled Poor, the 
method of administration was prescribed. Selectmen or 
overseers of the poor were to relieve the poor so far as five 
pounds would extend; and if more were needed, they were 
to disburse more "for the supplying victuals, clothing, fire- 
wood, or any other thing necessary for their support or 
subsistence." The selectmen were called to strict account, 
and poor and idle persons were to be put to service. In 



THe Poor Law 425 

171 1, a law was passed entitled Sickness, providing against 
the spread of contagious sickness, and directing that when 
any person was visited by sickness in any other town than 
that in which he belonged, and became a charge to such town, 
the selectmen were to lay the account before the County 
Court where the town was to which the person belonged, and 
the court was to call on the treasurer of the town for the 
money, in case the person, his parents, or masters could not 
pay it. In case the sick person was from a place outside 
the colony, the expense was borne by the treasury of Con- 
necticut. Another method of relieving the poor was by 
exempting from taxation. Almost from the beginning, 
it was the custom to care for the old soldiers; in 1676, the 
Assembly ordered that all soldiers "wounded in the country 
service" should "have cure and diet on the country account, 
and half pay" till they were cured. A year later, the other 
half of their pay was voted. Other private bills granted 
land-exemption from taxation and medical expenses. 

The revision of 1702, required the town officers to appren- 
tice the children of paupers, if they were allowed by their 
parents "to live idly or misspend their time in loitering." 
The length of service was specified, "a man child until twenty- 
one years; and a woman child to the age of eighteen, or 
time of marriage." This method had been employed in 
England; giving the boys and girls home care, and if 
masters were cruel, there was provision for relief. 

The most serious defect in those early laws was in the 
treatment of the vagrant, sending him back "from constable 
to constable," a method slightly superior to the present lack 
of all method in the treatment of tramps, but unscientific 
and unsatisfactory. The first law on this subject was 
passed in 17 13. The preamble stated that "several persons, 
wanderers and others, have by their vile and profane dis- 
course and actions proved a snare to youth especially, and 
tends to the great detriment of religion," therefore it was 
enacted that county jails should be houses of correction for 



426 A. History of Connecticut 

wanderers convicted before a justice. At the next County 
Court there was to be a trial, and the judge might order the 
offender "to be chastened by whipping on his or her naked 
back, in such jail, and to be kept to such labor as such 
offender is capable of." The term of imprisonment was 
unlimited, but only fifteen stripes might be given for one 
offence. 

This did not diminish the evil, for we find that five years 
later another law was passed. This stated that "idle 
persons, vagabonds and sturdy beggars have been of late, 
and still are, much increasing within this government, and 
likely more to increase if timely remedy be not provided." 
They were to be adjudged rogues by any assistant or justice, 
and to "be stripped naked from the middle upward, and 
. . . openly whipped on the naked body, not exceeding the 
number of fifteen stripes." The magistrate was also to give 
a "testimonal of the punishment" with an order to forth- 
with depart the parish. Thereafter the culprit might re- 
ceive a repetition of the penalt}^, if he remained in a town 
more than twenty-four hours after being warned to depart 
by a selectman. It would be interesting to know on what 
ground the wise law-makers expected that vagrants would 
be likely to keep and show that precious "testimonial." 
This measure soon proved ineffective, and in 1727, a 
thorough-going workhouse act was passed which provided 
that a house of correction be erected in Hartford, New Haven, 
or New London according to the liveliness of these towns to 
secure the boon. The County Court was to appoint "an 
honest, fit person to be master," with power to set at work, 
shackle, whip, and "abridge" the food in the interest of 
discipline. Four classes were candidates for this wholesome 
training: tramps (including fakers), petty offenders, stub- 
born children, and insane. Upon their entrance, unless 
the warrant otherwise directed, each person committed was 
to be put into a humble state of mind by receiving not more 
than ten stripes. It was expected that the workhouse 



The Poor Law 427 

would be self-supporting, as two-thirds of the profits was to go 
to pay their expenses and to their families, and the other third 
to pay the salary and expenses of the overseer. It did not 
prove a financial success, and in 1757, two overseers were 
appointed with exacting conditions, such as a forfeit of not 
more than ten pounds for every prisoner who escaped. The 
revision of 1750, ordered every county to provide a house of 
correction, pending which, county jails were to be used as 
workhouses. In 1753, the County Courts were directed to 
erect houses of correction at once, though two counties were 
allowed to erect a single house; in October, 1753, the 
Assembly voted that no Court should act until a majority of 
the assistants and justices agreed to it, and decided on the 
location. 

In 1 769, it was voted that each County Court at its next 
session should appoint one or two overseers from the county 
town to procure materials for the workhouse at a cost of 
fifteen pounds. The law also empowered any assistant 
and justice, or two justices, to send to the workhouse, to keep 
at hard labor "all rogues, vagabonds, sturdy beggars and 
other lewd, idle, dissolute, profane and disorderly persons," 
that had no settlement in the colony. These laws were 
brought together in a revision in 1754, with few changes, 
making clear the fact that the beggar and poor inhabitant 
were two different people. To guard still further the towns 
against expense from the settlement of undesirable people, a 
law was passed in 1732, providing that if any one, without 
notice to the authorities, should entertain a stranger for forty- 
eight hours, he was chargeable with all subsequent expense 
in his behalf. The revision of 1732, lengthened the time for 
giving notice to four days, and limited the liability of the 
host to expenses incurred for a cause dating from the 
stranger's stay with him. The most important change per- 
mitted the civil authority and the selectmen, as well as the 
towns, to admit inhabitants possessing the necessary moral 
qualifications. An act of 1765, declared that a fine of ten 



428 A History of Connecticut 

shillings a week for illegally hiring or entertaining strangers, 
or letting a house or land to them, should be payable to 
the town in which the offence was committed, and not to 
the town to which the offender belonged. 

In 1770, a decided step forward was taken, when a dis- 
tinction was made between inhabitants of Connecticut and 
those of other colonies, and four methods were given by which 
a transient could gain a settlement. 

1. By vote of the inhabitants of the town. 

2. By consent of the civil authority and the selectmen. 

3. By being appointed to and executing some public 
office. 

4. By possessing in his own right in fee a real estate 
of one hundred pounds in the town during his residence 
there. 

Until settlement was acquired, a man might be removed 
to the place of his last legal settlement, if the selectmen 
feared that he was likely to become an expense to the town. 
Mere residence conferred no settlement. In moving from one 
town to another, a citizen secured before leaving a written 
certificate from the civil authority and the selectmen, v/hich 
he lodged with the clerk of the new town. In the revision 
of 1784, a quasi-settlement was granted after a residence of 
three months in case of illness, and any citizen could arrest 
a vagrant wandering without a pass. It was also voted 
that a foreigner who seemed likely to become immoral or 
vicious could be removed from the state to his last settle- 
ment or to a place "in the jurisdiction of the nation." This 
law was repealed in 1789. It also forbade any person not a 
citizen of the United States to buy or hold lands without a 
special license from the Assembly, and this held until 1848. 
In the revision of 1750, there appeared a marked change in 
the method of relieving the poor ; like the old law, it required 
the town of birth or settlement to care for one without 
relatives or estate, at the expense of the town of settlement. 
A clause was added: "Or if they belong to no town, or 



THe Poor Law 429 

place in the colony, then at the cost and charge of the 
colony." This was the first legislation providing relief by 
the colony. Connecticut occasionally paid the cost of 
transportation of paupers to their homes in England. The 
revision of 1750, also extended the power granted to select- 
men in 1673, to bind out children of paupers and "any 
poor children that live idly, or are exposed to want and dis- 
tress, " if there was no one to care for them. This revision 
also allowed indeterminate sentence of vicious minors to 
the house of correction "under hard labor and severe 
punishment." 

The revision of 1821, made necessary by the constitu- 
tion of 18 1 8, marks greater liberality; a six years' self-sup- 
porting residence in a town entitled a foreigner who had 
gained legal residence to support in case there was need, and 
a year's residence, coupled with ownership of real estate to 
the value of three hundred and thirty-four dollars, entitled 
to support. An inhabitant of Connecticut could gain resi- 
dence in another town by vote of the town, consent of 
officials, or by holding office, as in the case of foreigners, and 
also by ownership of real estate worth three hundred and 
thirty-four dollars or by six years' residence, during which 
he supported himself and paid taxes. A town was responsible 
for relief of a stranger after a residence of three months, or 
before that time if warning had not been given, provided 
that he had been a self-supporting resident of another 
Connecticut town for six years. The importation of con- 
victs, and the leaving of paupers in towns where they did 
not belong, were punishable by fine. 

In 1785, the Assembly authorized Hartford to build 
"an almshouse for the support of the poor of the town," 
and levy taxes to erect, enlarge, and repair as may be needed. 
The selectmen were to appoint overseers for the same. In 
18 13, separate towns or any two towns were empowered to 
establish almshouses "for the admission of the town poor 
and destitute persons." Every town was still obliged to 



43° -A. History of Connecticut 

support its needy inhabitants, "whether residing in it, or in 
any other town in the state," provided they were without 
estate or relatives able to relieve. The revision of 182 1, 
made a town responsible for a former inhabitant who had 
lost his residence by living in another state, and on return- 
ing to Connecticut was in want. 

After 1 82 1, paupers might be removed to any place 
designated by the town or selectmen. There were three 
legal methods of relief: in one's own home, the almshouse 
or other place designated by the town, or by the contractor 
for the town poor. There is no record of an authorization 
of the contract system. It is simply referred to as existing. 
The selectmen were overseers of the poor. Before 18 18, 
they were not required to care for needy residents who 
belonged elsewhere, unless they were ill. After 18 18, if a 
person came to want away from the town where he resided, 
he with whom he resided was required to notify a selectman 
within five days, and "immediate and necessary support" 
was furnished, and information was given as soon as possible 
to the town where the person belonged. A fine of seven 
dollars was imposed on a neglectful selectman. No town 
was ever to pay for paupers at a greater rate than a dollar a 
week in lieu of all expenses. An act was passed in 1828, 
requiring selectmen, in case a pauper belonging to another 
town died, to give him a "decent burial," and recover from 
the town of settlement, the expense not exceeding six dollars. 
Selectmen were also to relieve all residents of six years' stand- 
ing if in need. The state continued to support all paupers 
without settlement, but in 1820, it was voted that in no 
case should the state reimburse a town for the support of a 
pauper born in Connecticut, or in an adjoining state, or one 
who had been an inhabitant of a Connecticut town. The 
comptroller was empowered to contract with any person or 
persons for not more than five years, for the support of state 
paupers. Thus began the system of caring for the poor of 
the state by contract with the lowest bidder. After 1821, 



THe Poor Law 43 1 

selectmen constituted a board of health to prevent the 
spread of contagion. In 1826, a charter was granted to the 
General Hospital Society of Connecticut to maintain "a 
general hospital in the city of New Haven." It was to be a 
charitable institution, and patients belonging to the state 
were to be preferred. No appropriation was at that time 
made for it. 

As early as 1785, authority was granted New Haven to 
establish a workhouse. In 1795, similar authority was 
granted Norwich, and before 1713, to seven other towns. 
The revision of 1821, authorized towns to erect workhouses, 
and made selectmen overseers. The master was not al- 
lowed to whip the inmates, but might put them in close con- 
finement, or "in case of great obstinacy and perverseness 
reduce them to bread and water." The town made up the 
deficit in the expense of supporting the workhouse. Beggars, 
vagrants, fakers, prostitutes, drunkards, and those who failed 
to support their families were committed, and the sentences 
were limited to forty days. Stubborn and rebellious minors 
were also sentenced to the workhouse for not more than 
thirty days. The insane had been excluded in 1793. It 
was hard to obtain workhouse sentences for tramps, as the 
counties would not assume support, and only the larger 
towns were willing to act. The easiest course was to give 
a little assistance and pass the beggars on. A distinction 
was made in the revision of 1821, between paupers, who were 
to be cared for in almshouses, and beggars, more or less 
vicious, who were sent to the workhouse, while the mentally 
weak were to be placed under conservators, and spend- 
thrifts under overseers. 

In 1784, the system was a combination of state and town; 
in 1838, it was almost entirely a town system; the only aid 
given by the state was to strangers who were ill within the 
first three months of their residence in a town, and from that 
time until now there has been a steady increase in state aid, 
while the basis is still the town system. The date for the 



432 A History of Connecticut 

beginning of the institutional period is 1838, though it 
began in a small way before. Many public and private 
institutions were chartered and two hundred general acts 
passed between 1838, and 1875, to regulate these and other 
conditions arising from the increasing population. In 1854, 
it was voted to grant two thousand dollars annually to the 
General Hospital Society of New Haven for its charity work. 
The same year the Hartford Hospital was incorporated, with 
an appropriation from the state of ten thousand dollars, 
and much more later on, as was also the case with the New 
Haven Hospital. In 1866, a new homeopathic hospital 
received aid from the state. In 1871, the Hartford dispen- 
sary was incorporated. New Haven followed in 1872. 

From the close of the seventeenth century, dangerous 
lunatics were confined, but when it was learned in 1837, 
that there were four hundred and fifty pauper insane, 
measures were taken to provide for them at the Retreat at 
Hartford, but the number and expense increased so rapidly 
that in 1866, it was voted to establish a hospital for the 
insane. This was located at Middletown, and in the first 
year, of the two hundred and sixty-eight patients, only 
twenty-four were paying patients; one hundred and sixty- 
eight were paupers. 

Many laws have been passed since 1875, relating to 
pauperism, but the changes have not been very marked; a 
person from another state or territory gains settlement by 
vote of the town or by consent of justices of the peace and 
selectmen after a year's residence, or by the possession of 
real estate to the value of three hundred and thirty-four 
dollars. An inhabitant of another Connecticut town gains 
a settlement by vote, or consent, or a four years' self-support- 
ing residence. There were few restrictions in methods of 
poor relief in the revision of 1875; towns might support 
their poor in their own homes, in almshouses, or through 
contractors who cared for all the poor, for a lump sum or 
so much per capita. The statute of 1879, put restriction on 



THe Poor Law 433 

the contract system, requiring the selectmen to see that 
"good and sufficient food, clothing, comfortable lodgings, 
suitable care and medical attendance in sickness" be fur- 
nished. This law was repealed in 1883, and no restrictions 
were placed upon selectmen. In 1883, the State Board of 
Charities reported that three-quarters of the towns farmed 
out their poor to the lowest bidder. By 1886, the cruelties 
and sufferings possible under such a system led to an en- 
actment which forbade all such contracts after January I, 
1887. After that time, towns were to support all paupers 
"in an almshouse or other place or places provided." Since 
1 90 1, neighboring towns may establish a union almshouse. 
In 1886, of the one hundred and sixty-seven towns in the 
state, sixty-two owned almshouses, thirty-four used alms- 
houses by contract with private owners, and twenty-four 
of the latter paid the keeper a lump sum for the care of 
all paupers, except in some cases of tramps and insane. At 
least seven towns, owning almshouses, contracted with the 
keeper for a gross or weekly sum per head. Six towns for a 
time had a contract with the contractor at Tariffville, who 
has charge of the state paupers, under which town paupers 
were kept there. Contracts were supposed to go to the 
lowest bidder, who got all the work he could out of the in- 
mates, and we can imagine the cruelty and privation endured 
when the contractor was mean. The report of the State 
Board of Charities for 1886, which brought out the facts, 
led to a prohibition of such contracts by the Assembly. 

The number of almshouses in active operation in the 
state in 1910; was seventy- two, of which sixty- two were 
owned by the towns or cities in which they were situated, 
and ten were owned and managed by individuals. In the 
remainder of the one hundred and sixty-eight towns, needy 
persons were boarded in families or assisted in their own 
homes, except in the cases of six towns that boarded their 
poor at Tariffville, in violation of the law which provides 

that town poor shall be cared for in the town to which they 

28 



434 -A- History of Connecticut 

belong or in an adjoining town. The almshouse at Tariff- 
ville is often miscalled the State Almshouse, but the state 
has no share in its ownership and management. Under the 
state poor law of 1907, state paupers are boarded there, 
and the expense to the state is two dollars and seventy-five 
cents per week. Better accommodations befit the poor of 
such a state as Connecticut. 

Some towns still receive prisoners under the workhouse 
law. A change for the better has come to pass in most 
almshouses during the past thirty years, but in a number 
there is a lack of classification and adequate facilities for 
decent comfort. Paupers in towns without almshouses are 
usually boarded in families, frequently in the outskirts, and 
with clothing and rooms sometimes poor beyond all de- 
scription. The present system with its inheritance of many 
of the evils of a primitive age will some day give way to a 
district or county system, where classification, economy, 
separation of the worthy poor from idiots, imbeciles, and 
insane shall be maintained, under superintendents of skill 
and experience. 

The so-called outdoor relief is a blot upon the state. It 
is difficult to get reports, but in 1888, it was reasonably 
certain that twenty thousand received such aid every year, 
one to thirty-five of the population, and there has been no 
radical change since then. Children are often brought up 
in the practice of going to the selectman for the weekly or 
monthly stipend for the family, and by the time they reach 
maturity have come to look upon the town treasury as the 
one natural and unfailing source of revenue. In 1884, 
Windham began to send all new and many old applicants 
to the almshouse, and nearly all found that they could 
support themselves. The cost of the almshouse support 
increased six hundred and seventy dollars, while the out- 
door relief decreased over five thousand dollars. 

The tramp question, which was a live wire at the opening 
of the eighteenth century, has not yet been solved in Con- 



THe Poor Law 435 

necticut. All sorts of expedients have been tried. At 
least forty thousand tramps and vagrants troop through the 
towns every year, and feed on the people. It is a mild 
statement to say that over half of them are under twenty- 
five, professional tramps, determined to live without work. 
Tests to learn what proportion are worthy to receive help 
lead to the conclusion that about one in twenty-five is 
worthy. As a result of careful investigation the General 
Assembly in 1875, passed two bills, one for county work- 
houses, and one regarding vagrants. Any one to whom a 
tramp applies may detain him until eleven on the following 
day to labor for aid received. Neglect to work, or injury 
to person or property, may lead to sentence in town or 
county workhouse, or to jail as a vagrant, for from thirty 
days to six months. This statute was repealed in 1886. 
The law now on the statute book was passed in 1879, an d it 
states that "all transient persons who rove about from 
place to place begging, and all vagrants living without labor or 
visible means of support, who stroll over the country without 
lawful occasion," are tramps, and liable to confinement in 
prison for not more than a year. Officers may arrest with- 
out warrant. 

The statutes authorize three kinds of workhouses. 
Towns singly, or in cooperation, may establish workhouses, 
counties may build them, and all county jails are work- 
houses. Selectmen are overseers of workhouses. The 
workhouse proposition has not appealed to Connecticut. 
The jail is the workhouse, the only one the towns and coun- 
ties are willing to support. The elaborate and severe work- 
house law has failed to reach the tramp evil because there 
are no workhouses, and with some of the jails crowded as 
they are, vagrants cannot be sent there, and the only place 
for them is the almshouse. There is no legal ground for 
this, and it is unfair to the worthy and unfortunate poor 
who are there. The Hartford committee on outdoor alms 
of 1890, found that prostitutes and other petty criminals 



436 j\ History of Connecticut 

were sentenced by the police court to the almshouse under 
the workhouse law. The present methods increase the 
pauper class through illegitimate children, furnish a free 
hospital for regaining health after a debauch, subject the 
decent poor to the hardship of association with criminals and 
defectives , and feed and send tramps along to the next town. 

The organization of the State Board of Charities in 1873, 
was an important event in the care of the dependent and 
delinquent classes, since it has a general supervision over 
the administration of the laws. A glance at the past re- 
minds us of progress in the development of the poor laws. 
The act of 1682, provided for the return by local authorities 
of vagrants found within their towns. In 17 13, the county 
jails were constituted houses of correction to which tramps 
might be sentenced. In 1727, the erection of a colony work- 
house was ordered. In 1750, the counties were ordered to 
provide workhouses. In 1813, this power was granted to 
the towns, and in 1821, withdrawn from the counties. In 
1 84 1, it was enacted that jails might be fitted for use as work- 
houses, while in 1878, every jail was required to become a 
workhouse. In 1879, it was enacted that vagrants from 
outside of the state might be sent to prison. Far more 
success has attended the efforts to care for the sick, the 
insane, and the feeble-minded; children have a better chance ; 
the blind, the deaf and dumb, and the incurables are no longer 
neglected. Wounded and disabled soldiers, and the children 
of soldiers, have been cared for. 

An orphan asylum was incorporated in 18 13, in Hartford, 
and in 1833-34, societies were formed in New Haven, Fair- 
field, and Middletown for the care of boys and girls, and 
education in the common branches and training for an 
honest calling were to be given. The introduction of 
factories in 1813, and the employment of children in them 
made special legislation necessary, and proprietors were 
given duties similar to those of parents in the training of 
children under their charge. 



THe Poor Law 437 

The town system has had free play in Connecticut, and 
in the earlier years it worked fairly well, but with the coming 
in of manufactories there has been need of state activity, 
together with that of the county. Since 1837, the trend 
has been in the direction of action by the state in order that 
there may be specialized treatment of the different classes. 
Action by the town has been equally a failure in its treat- 
ment of the vagrant, of cases needing special attention, and 
in outdoor relief. There has been too much confusion of the 
pauper and the vagrant. Nothing has been done to reform 
the tramp, except to pass laws which were sometimes too 
mild, and at other times too severe to execute. Some of the 
state institutions, like the Hospital for the Insane, have 
been conducted with wisdom and success. Some private 
institutions, like the School for Imbeciles at Lakeville and 
the Industrial School for Girls at Middletown, have also been 
well managed, but of others, both public and private, less 
can be said. On the whole, there has been an earnest effort 
to grapple with a wide variety of difficult and perplexing 
conditions, and all the indications point toward greater 
activity on the part of the state in shaping laws and institu- 
tions to meet the special cases arising from a heterogeneous 
and complicated civic life. 



CHAPTER XXXIII 

PENAL AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS 

IN the development of the state from simple colonial 
conditions, there has been of course the question 
of the delinquent and the criminal to cope with at every 
stage and all the time; also the growing call for 
reform, as well as for the protection of society. In the 
later years, there has been an effort to place Connecticut 
in the class of the best thought of the age. Almost 
from the first, it was necessary to provide security against 
evil-doers, since the public records of 1640, say: "For- 
asmuch, as many stubborn and refractory Persons are 
often taken within these libertyes, and no meet place is yet 
prepared for the detayneing and keeping of such to their 
due and deserved punishment. It is ordered that there 
shall be a house of correction built of twenty-four foote 
long, and sixteen or eighteen broad, with a Cellar, either of 
wood or stowne." In 1649, it was voted to pay Will Rescew 
ten pounds a "yeare during the time he keepeth the charge of 
the howse of correction." In 1651, it was voted to pay 
Richard Goodman and John Pratt for necessary work about 
the prison house, which was under the charge of a keeper 
appointed by the assistants and justices until 1724, when it 
was entrusted to sheriffs. The first jail in Hartford was 
at the northeast corner of City Hall Square, not far from 
the site of the present post-office. In 1667, it was ordered 
that every county should have a jail, and in 1701, it was 

438 




A Rare Sketch of Newgate Prison 

Only three copies of this interesting Old Engraving are known to exist. This view of Old Newgate 
Prison was taken from a copy owned by George S. Goddard, librarian of the Connecticut 

State Library 



Fenal and Reformatory Institutions 439 

voted that four "sufficient prison-houses" should be con- 
stantly maintained in "this Colonie [one in each head town 
of the four counties] at cost and charge of each countie." 
The jail at Windham may be taken as a fair sample of the 
jails of that period. It was ordered in 1726, by the justices 
of Windham, that a "gaol be built with all possible expe- 
dition 31 feet long, 18 feet in breadth. The gaol to be 
10 feet high, built of logs, all framed into posts, to be 
divided into two rooms by a board partition. The other 
end to be for the prison house, 6h feet between joints." 

The first common prison was in the copper mine at New- 
gate in Granby, fourteen miles north of Hartford, on the 
western slope of Talcott mountain. It was a cavern seventy 
feet below the surface. In October, 1773, a committee 
which had been appointed by the legislature reported that 
they had "prepared a well-finished lodging room" of about 
fifteen by twelve feet, and placed over the west shaft an 
iron door, at a cost of three hundred and seventy pounds, 
and an act was passed, "constituting the subterraneous 
caverns and buildings in the copper mines in Simsbury [it 
was then in Simsbury] a public gaol and workhouse for the 
use of the colony." Only three classes of prisoners were to 
be sent there: burglars, horse-stealers, and counterfeiters. 
The early fortunes of Newgate were discouraging for the 
public, as there were several escapes and three fires in 
the first nine years, for some buildings were erected about the 
shaft in which the prisoners made nails, and after 1820, shoes; 
cooperage was also a trade that was practiced there. In 1 780, 
a military guard was stationed there, and in 1781, twenty- 
eight rose against the officers and escaped. It fell into 
ruin until 1790, when a "piquet fence" was built, and a 
new and stiffer discipline adopted, fetters being placed on 
the ankles, and in the shops a chain attached to a band 
around the neck was fastened to the beam above while 
prisoners worked. A room was made in the basement of 
the guard-house called the "jug," in which the better dis- 



440 A. History of Connecticut 

posed were kept, and others were imprisoned in the cavern 
at night, with straw for beds, and there under their blankets 
huddled novice and hardened criminal: caves reeking with 
filth ; water trickling from the roof and oozing from the sides 
of the cavern. 

In 1800, a two-story building was erected at the mouth 
of the mine, and the dimensions of the two rooms were 
twelve by twenty-one feet, with seven feet between joints, 
and for ventilation a window fourteen by twenty-one inches, 
also a small opening over the door. No comment is needed 
when one imagines what it must have been for fifty-two 
men to sleep in those close, stifling rooms. It is not strange 
that they begged for the privilege of going back to the mine 
seventy feet below. During the hot weather in July, 1825, 
thirty- two men were lodged in a basement, while the rest 
of the one hundred and nine were in other rooms, described 
in the report of the Prison Discipline Society of 1826, as 
follows: "These rooms were not only narrow and crowded, 
but filthy in the extreme; and the commissioners of the 
legislature in their recent report, state that ' vermin of various 
kinds abound in them.' " A visitor to Newgate in 1826, 
speaks of the prisoners as more filthy than any others he 
had seen except those in the Washington jail; that one would 
suppose that "the narrow space, the loathsome bedding, 
the vermin would take life." He gives the testimony of a 
man who had visited the prison, who said that several 
had changed for the worse more in one year than one 
would suppose a person could alter in ten years. This was 
due not only to the crowded quarters and the filth, but also 
to the treatment the men received from the officers. He 
could hear the beating of a convict, and "the manner, the 
instrument, the effect were all wrong." A deep-seated 
malignity was planted in the minds of the prisoners, some of 
whom were constantly in irons. In 1821, women were 
sent to Newgate, and the number of prisoners increased 
until 1827, when the number was one hundred and twenty- 



Penal and Reformatory Institutions 441 

seven. And it was expensive, for the total cost to the state 
of supporting the prison from 1790, to 1826, was over two 
hundred thousand dollars, and the number of prisoners 
was seldom over a hundred. From 1817, to 1819, the 
average expense was over twelve thousand dollars annually. 
If anything could be said in favor of the discipline of the 
prison, the heavy expense would not seem so serious, but 
it was impossible for the officers to prevent the prisoners 
from practicing vice. The report of the Prison Discipline 
Society for 1827, after speaking of the facilities for conceal- 
ment of evil practices, adds : 

In the dungeons seventy feet under ground, formerly used 
as night rooms, some of the prisoners volunteered to return to 
them, as places of confinement at night, and assigned as the 
reason that they could there curse, swear and fight, and do other 
unutterable abominations, without having it known to any one. 
There probably has not been on earth a stronger emblem of the 
pit than the sleeping rooms of that prison, so filthy, so crowded, 
so inclined to evil, so unrestrained. 

In September, 1827, the prisoners were transferred to 
Wethersneld, to the new prison, built "after the Auburn 
plan," having two hundred brick cells, three and a half by 
seven by seven feet, with a solid plank door, in which there was 
a grated opening of eight by ten inches, also an opening four 
inches square into a ventilating flue in the rear of every cell. 
In 1888, that block was replaced by another of three hundred 
and ninety-six brick cells, five by eight by seven feet nine 
inches, with grated doors, two feet eight inches wide. In 
1896-98, a block of steel cells was built, and in 1889, the pres- 
ent graded system was introduced, which works as follows: 
On arrival, a prisoner enters the second grade and is clothed in 
a gray suit ; nine credit marks may be earned each month in 
conduct, work, and mental advancement. Promotion to the 
first grade and the blue suit is conditioned upon his earning 
fifty out of a possible fifty-four marks within the next six 



44^ -A. History of Connecticut 

months. The loss of more than two marks in any month 
for violation of the rules, disorderly conduct, laziness or 
untidiness, reduces the prisoner to the third grade and the 
striped clothing, and similar misconduct in a first-grade 
man reduces him to second grade. First-grade prisoners 
are allowed to write one letter a week, receive visits from 
friends once in two weeks, also such letters and papers as 
the warden approves, with other privileges for good conduct. 
The second-grade men may receive visits from friends once 
a month, also such letters and papers as the warden shall 
approve. The third-grade men shall not purchase, or 
receive from friends, any article; nor shall they receive 
visits, papers or tobacco (except as provided by law), or 
letters, except on matters of the greatest importance, and 
then by permission of the warden, and they may draw one 
library book a week. Prisoners reduced to the third grade, 
by maintaining a perfect record for thirty days, are promoted 
to the middle grade. The loss of a mark will compel them 
to remain in the grade thirty days longer. Good time, to 
shorten sentences, is granted at the rate of sixty days per 
year for five years and after that ninety days per year. 
There are over six hundred prisoners, two and a half per 
cent, of whom are women. The contract system prevails for 
manufacture of shirts and shoes, and the earnings of the 
men for the year ending September 30, 1912, were seventy- 
eight thousand and seventy-five dollars, or one hundred and 
twenty-five dollars apiece for the six hundred and twenty- 
three prisoners. A school for the illiterate and a prayer 
meeting are maintained from October until May. Bible 
schools and preaching services for Catholics and Protestants 
are held every Sunday. A library furnishes valuable 
reading for the prisoners, to which the state appropriates 
annually five hundred dollars. A board of pardons, con- 
sisting of the governor, a judge of the Supreme Court of 
Errors, and four other persons, one of whom shall be a 
physician (the four to be appointed by the governor), holds 




Convict Dining-Room at Meal Hour at Connecticut State Prison, Wethersfield 




The Main Cavern. Newgate Cavern in which convicts were kept at night 

From The Connecticut Quarterly vol. i., No. 3 



Penal and Reformatory Institutions 443 

sessions in June and December, to grant commutations or 
releases All members of said board must concur to make 
the judgment operative. The parole of prisoners under 
indeterminate sentence is at the discretion of a majority of 
the board of directors and the warden. 

It would be interesting to trace the changes in the laws 
relating to crime from the beginning; we can only glance at 
a few taken almost at random. A favorite form of punish- 
ment was the stocks, the policy being to make the disgrace 
of the criminals as conspicuous as possible. By 1706, there 
was a statute which compelled every town to make and 
maintain a good pair of stocks, with lock and key, and 
selectmen were to provide this at their own expense, under 
penalty of ten shillings a week. Perjury called for a fine 
of sixty-seven dollars, and if the convicted man was unable 
to pay, he was to sit in the pillory one hour, and have both 
his ears nailed. An hour in the pillory was an approved 
method of training Indians to observe the Sabbath. In 
January, 1785, Moses Fiske was convicted of horse-stealing 
and was sentenced to sit on the wooden horse for half an 
hour, to receive fifteen stripes, pay a fine of ten pounds, be 
confined in jail or workhouse three months, and every 
Monday morning for the first month have ten stripes and 
ride the wooden horse. The wooden horse was in btate 
House Square, and was a piece of timber, not too smooth, 
sustained by four legs. . 

An interesting glimpse into the court rooms was gained 
in our study of the witchcraft cases. The record of the 
County Court of New London in 1667 states that Goodwile 
Willey for not attending public worship or bringing her 
children thither was fined five shillings." In 1670, John 
Lewis and Sarah Chapman were presented to the court by 
the grand jury for sitting together on the Lord s day under 
an apple-tree. After 1680, numerous cases appeared con- 
cerning "horse-coursers." It was the custom to pasture 
the horses at large, and it was easy to run them to wharf, 



444 -A- History of Connecticut 

and ship them to Barbados. A law was passed in 1683, 
punishing horse-coursers with fines and lashes. Every 
town had its whipping-post and stocks, and as late as 1770, 
a culprit was sentenced to have his ear clipped. Breach 
of the Sabbath was considered more serious than "profane 
cursing and swairing, " or even than the "sin of drunken- 
ness," and the fine for Sabbath-breaking was ten shillings, 
and the penalty for young folks "playing at meeting" was 
three shillings. In 1721, it was ordered that a fine of forty 
shillings, and a term at the house of correction at the charges 
of the culprit in case the fine was not paid, should be imposed 
on those who should be guilty of any rude and unlawful 
behavior on the Lord's day, such as "clamorous discourse, 
or by shouting, hollowing, screaming, running, riding, 
singing, dancing, jumping, winding horns and the like in 
any houses or place so near to any publick meetinghouse 
for divine worship, that those who went there may be 
disturbed." A law was passed in 1735, which was not long 
in force, that persons who were fined, and should refuse to 
pay, should be sold for so long a time as the court saw fit. 

The laws of 1642, made the following offenses punish- 
able by death: idolatry, witchcraft, blasphemy, murder, 
bestiality, adultery, rape, kidnapping, and false witnessing. 
These nine offenses were increased later to fifteen, including 
such crimes as rebellion against parents, burglary and 
theft for the third indictment. Drunkenness was punished 
with a fine of twenty shillings, and the keeper of the house 
where the drink was obtained was to pay a fine of ten 
shillings. In 1735, a law was passed which declared that a 
person who was convicted of burglary, on the first offense 
should be branded with a "B" on the forehead, the right 
ear was to be nailed to a board and cut off, and ten stripes 
were to be inflicted. For the second offense, another "B" 
was to be branded, the other ear cut off, and twenty-five 
stripes given, and the penalty for the third offense was 
death. In 1751, a law was passed that for the theft of 



Penal and Reformatory Institutions 445 

anything under ten shillings, a justice of the peace could im- 
pose a penalty of ten stripes, and a fine of no more than four 
pounds, and for the theft of more than ten shillings, the 
prisoner was to be bound over to the County Court, where 
the penalty was not over thirty-nine stripes and costs, and 
no appeal. For the second offense the prisoner was to be 
whipped, branded with a "T" on the forehead, and the 
right ear cut off, while for the third offense the penalty wa? 
death. The record shows that there were many who were 
tried for defamation, bestiality, blasphemy, idleness, and 
lying. The question so often asked as to the relative preva- 
lence of crimes in the early days as compared with the 
present time is difficult to answer, because the laws required 
that penalties be imposed for conduct now regarded as 
innocent and even beautiful. On November 27, 17 10, the 
clerk of the court ordered the constables to arrest two young 
men and the same number of young women, and bring them 
before the County Court because of a breach of the law in 
the month of August preceding; their crime was the unsea- 
sonable walking abroad in the evening after the Sabbath. 
The same year, a fine was imposed upon a woman for send- 
ing flowers on the evening after the Sabbath. In 17 10, Paul 
and Elizabeth Peck testified that Joseph Shepard came to 
their house on the evening after the Sabbath to inform them 
of the welfare of their son and daughter in Milford— a 
crime that must not go unpunished. 

Ministers were on the watch for evil-doers, and they used 
strong language to describe their misdeeds; in 1667, Rev. 
Mr. Stowe of Middletown accused several men of "blasphemy, 
drunkenness and abominable wickedness." It appears that 
the "abominable wickedness" was the sin of saying that 
"no man can get to heaven whose conscience does not con- 
vict him of lying." 

Penalties were sometimes mitigated in response to cries 
for mercy. In 1723, a man was sentenced to branding and 
costs, because he broke into jail. He confessed his guilt 



446 A. History of Connecticut 

"for so horrid a crime against wholesome laws, and high- 
handed rebellion against his maker"; he begged for mercy 
to save from branding. The penalty was changed to a 
fine of ten pounds. The gallows was often used for other 
purposes than hanging. In 1777, two people were convicted 
of incest, and the penalty was to "set on the gallows with 
ropes around their necks" for a while, to receive twenty 
stripes, and to wear upon their clothing in open view as 
long as they lived the letter "I," under penalty of fifteen 
stripes for every omission. In 1829, the following crimes 
were punishable with death in Connecticut: treason, mur- 
der, perjury with intent to take life, arson causing death or 
endangering the life of any one, burning a building other 
than a dwelling house and causing death, cutting out the 
tongue or putting out an eye with malice, and rape. Kid- 
napping was punishable with a fine of four hundred dollars; 
sodomy and bestiality, state prison for life; fornication, a 
fine of seven dollars and a jail sentence of a month; dis- 
interment of bodies of the dead called for a penalty of 
imprisonment for life for the third offense. From the 
beginning of the Wethersneld prison, there was a rising 
sentiment against the placing of women in the same prison 
with men unless they were in a separate apartment. A 
letter of the chaplain, dated Wethersfield, May 7, 1831, 
says: 

I suppose the female department here is the best arranged 
of any in the world. Formerly, when they were all in one room, 
the noise which they made might be heard at a distance, and 
hair torn from each other's heads might be seen strewed about 
the floor. Now they are lodged in separate cells; they more 
than support themselves by their labor, and are much changed 
for the better in outward appearance. 

Imprisonment for debt was largely practiced, and until 
1826, women were liable as well as men. In 1830, a Hart- 
ford man was imprisoned from January to September for 



Penal and Reformatory Institutions 447 

a debt of two dollars and thirty-one cents, and he was then 
discharged on taking the poor debtor's oath. A Simsbury 
man was committed for a debt of seventy-five cents, and a 
month later he was discharged on oath. A Windsor man 
was imprisoned thirty-five days for a debt of thirty-eight 
cents. The whole number imprisoned for debt in Hartford 
County in 1830, was one hundred and forty-two — sixty- 
six for sums under ten dollars. If the proportion in Hart- 
ford County held good for the rest of the state, there were 
three hundred and sixty-four cases of imprisonment for 
debts under ten dollars, or more than one-third of the 
number imprisoned for debt. A pitiful case is on record 
of a man who was locked up for a debt of four dollars 
and seventy-five cents. He was old and sick, unable to 
earn money for eleven weeks, and just as he was getting 
better he was arrested. His wife, who went to the jail with 
a young daughter to see him, said they had paid a dollar 
on the rent. The sick man had no bed in the jail, and the 
jailer said he would let him go under the bread act in a few 
days, if the rent was not paid. 

In 1 83 1, a chaplain was employed at the prison, and he 
not only sought to benefit the prisoners with moral and 
religious instruction, but also by teaching them the rudi- 
ments of the English language, as most of the prisoners were 
ignorant. In 1835, one-half could not write, and thirty- 
seven out of two hundred could not read. A hymn was 
composed for the women prisoners to sing before evening 
prayers, in which was the following stanza — a comforting 
message, and one likely to lead to pleasant dreams. 

" The way of wickedness is hard; 
Its bitter fruits we know; 
Shame in this world is its reward, 
And in the future, wo." 

There was a movement as early as 1830, in behalf of the 
youthful offenders. The governor introduced the subject 



44$ -A. History of Connecticut 

in his message, and some of the women in Hartford and 
Fairfield counties sought in the poorhouses for children 
needing care. In 1834, the chaplain at Wethersfield re- 
ported that a boy of eleven years had been committed to the 
prison, and he asked if the legislature would not do well to 
provide a different place for such offenders. Public opinion 
increased in momentum until 1850, when a petition was 
presented to the General Assembly, asking that the neces- 
sary steps be taken to establish and maintain a house of 
reformation for juvenile offenders. In 185 1, a favorable 
report was made and it was voted to establish a state re- 
form school, with the provision that ten thousand dollars 
be paid from the state treasury when a similar amount was 
paid in for the purpose by people of the state. A prompt 
response was made, and among the contributors were 
Theodore D. Woolsey and William A. Buckingham. In 
1852, a site of thirty-one acres was purchased in Meriden. 
In February, 1854, notice was given that on March 1, the 
school would open. On March 31, 1855, one hundred and 
fifty boys had been committed. Previous to 1850, there 
were in the United States only three or four similar schools ; 
children who had committed offenses against the law were 
sent to jail with older and hardened prisoners. The com- 
mitments were for a definite term, including an alternate 
sentence to the jail, prison or workhouse. The popular 
idea through the state was that the school was a place for 
punishment, where culprits were confined to protect the 
public. The building gave that impression with its grated 
windows and cell-like rooms, in which the boys were locked 
at night. In the period between 1880, and 1890, notable 
changes were made, as five cottages with accommodations 
for fifty boys each were erected, and an amendment to the 
law committing boys to the school was passed, doing away 
with the definite sentence, and substituting the indetermi- 
nate form that boys might be held at the school until twenty- 
one years of age, unless sooner reformed. 



Penal and Reformatory Institutions 449 

In 1 89 1, the name was changed to the Connecticut School 
for Boys, but the name, worn for forty years, could not be 
easily shaken off, and the school continues to be called the 
State Reform School. 

Since 1899, the governor has appointed biennially an 
agent for the school, to investigate the homes of boys before 
parole, secure homes and employment for those whose 
homes are not suitable for their return to them, and by visits 
as often as once in six months, obtain reliable information 
as to the conduct of boys on parole. In 1900, a thorough 
system of manual training, combining sloyd, cabinetwork, 
and wood-turning, was introduced. In 1902, forging was 
added, including the hardening, tempering, and finishing of 
steel tools. The boys are under sixteen when committed, 
and in 1903, the law was amended so that no boy under ten 
years should be committed, except under conviction of 
an offense for which the punishment is confinement in 
state prison or a county jail. The government and control 
of the school are in a board of twelve trustees, one from each 
county, and four from the vicinity of the school. The 
support is from the state; the cost at present is three dollars 
per week. The cottage system gives a homelike tone to the 
school, and provides for greater freedom in the management 
of the boys. There is a system of grading, which appeals 
to the ambition of the boys, and it is possible for a boy so 
carefully to observe the rules that he can secure his Honor 
Badge in eleven months, and thus become entitled to leave 
the school, if the authorities concur, and a desirable home is 
secured for him. There is a carefully developed system of 
parole and parole supervision, and when homes are found 
for the boys, their guardians are urged to cooperate with 
the school authorities. Boys in the cottages attend school 
for three and a half hours daily, and the larger boys in the 
main part of the institution have a session of school three 
hours long. The schools are graded and a fair education is 
offered. The manual training furnishes instruction to one 
29 



45° -A. History of Connecticut 

hundred and sixty-eight different boys. The terms are 
five months long. Mechanical drawing has a part in the 
training, and while the trades are not taught, it is the design 
of the training to teach the underlying principles of many 
trades. The boys make and mend their own shoes; print 
their paper; mend the clothes; raise large quantities of veg- 
etables; seat chairs and have learned to operate a knitting 
machine. The trustees report that from 1854, to 1910, nearly 
eight thousand boys have been committed to the school, 
and of this number more than eighty per cent, who have been 
graduated, have taken their places as respectable and self- 
respecting citizens. There were in the school, September 30, 
1910, four hundred and thirty-four boys, and the average time 
spent in the school by the boys released was two years and 
three months. There are those who take a less rosy view of 
the school, and some careful students of the subject are of the 
opinion that a larger number of officers, which would make 
possible a closer supervision, would increase the efficiency of 
the institution. However that may be, it is unquestionably 
accomplishing a valuable service for the state. 

Similar to this, though under an entirely different 
kind of management, is the Industrial School for Girls at 
Middletown. This school is a private institution with a 
self-perpetuating board of directors, though the governor, 
lieutenant-governor and secretary of state are directors 
ex officio. It was about the year 1867, that the need of a 
home for the girls of the state, who were in danger of drifting 
into vice for lack of proper home influences, impressed it- 
self upon the minds of some kind-hearted people, who under 
the lead of Rev. T. K. Fessenden secured a charter, raised 
a large sum of money, bought a large farm in Middletown, 
and established a home. It was the intention of the founders 
to establish a state institution, but after considering the 
matter, they saw the wisdom of having a private school, and 
receiving from the state three and a half dollars a week for 
care of each of the girls. It was consequently founded on that 



Fenal and Reformatory Institutions 451 

plan and the school accommodates two hundred and eighty 
inmates. The statement reads: "The proper subjects are 
not merely paupers, nor orphans, nor confirmed thieves, nor 
prostitutes, nor other criminals, but viciously inclined girls 
between the ages of eight and sixteen years." The class 
includes: the stubborn and unruly; truants, vagrants 
and beggars; those found in circumstances of manifest 
danger of falling into habits of vice; those who have com- 
mitted any offense punishable by fine or imprisonment or 
both, other than imprisonment for life. Its design is not 
to have another prison, but a home for training and instruc- 
tion; to give children the physical, mental, moral, social, 
and industrial development needed, and as soon as this task 
is accomplished, and they can be placed in suitable surround- 
ings, they are to graduate from the school. The form of 
committal is by a civil, and not a criminal process. Com- 
plaint may be brought by parents or officers of a town, city 
or borough, to a judge of probate, or of a police court, or to 
a justice of the peace in the town where the girl is found, who 
can commit to the school until the age of twenty-one, unless 
discharged earlier. The home is splendidly placed on a farm 
with a fine prospect. There are eight family houses, and a 
school building with four rooms, where the girls have oppor- 
tunity for a good education. They make their clothes, and are 
taught the art of cutting and making dresses under the direc- 
tion of an expert dressmaker. They are also trained in cook- 
ing and housekeeping. There is a beautiful chapel in which is 
a fine organ, which was given by the women of the state. The 
girls seem happy, and while much of the good accomplished 
cannot be given by figures, it is reported by the authorities 
that about ninety per cent, of those who graduate lead good 
lives. 

For many years there has been a growing sentiment in 
the state that there should be an institution for young men 
who have committed offenses, but cannot find in the jails 
and the Wethersfield prison the influences and training best 



452 «A History of Connecticut 

calculated to develop them for useful lives. This sentiment 
found expression in an act passed by the General Assembly 
in 1909, whereby the sum of four hundred thousand dollars 
was appropriated for the building of the Connecticut State 
Reformatory, and it was enacted that there should be five 
directors, appointed by the governor, with the advice of the 
senate, to purchase a site and erect buildings, and they were 
also to elect a superintendent to manage the institution under 
the rules of the directors. Those who are to be sent to the 
reformatory are male persons, between the ages of sixteen 
and twenty-five, convicted for the first time of offenses 
punishable in the state prison for a shorter period than life. 
Those between sixteen and twenty-one in this class must 
be sent to the reformatory ; those between the ages of twenty- 
one and twenty-five may be so committed, if they seem 
amenable to reformatory methods. The judge imposing 
a reformatory sentence on offenders of this class shall not 
fix the term unless it exceeds five years. The second class 
is of persons between sixteen and twenty-five never before 
convicted of an offense punishable with a prison sentence, 
who are convicted of an offense which may be punished by 
a maximum imprisonment of one year in jail. Commitment 
of these offenders to the reformatory for an indeterminate 
sentence of not more than three years shall be at the discre- 
tion of the court. The third class is of persons of ages as 
above, never convicted of an offense liable to a prison sen- 
tence, who are convicted of an offense which may be 
punished by a maximum imprisonment in jail of less than 
a year, but not less than six months; these may be com- 
mitted to the reformatory, at the discretion of the court, for 
an indefinite term of not more than two years. 

Inmates of the Connecticut School for Boys between 
the ages of fourteen and twenty-one, whom the trustees of 
the school desire to have transferred to the reformatory, and 
whom the directors of the reformatory are willing to receive, 
may also be committed, to be detained for the time they 



Penal and Reformatory Institutions 453 

could be held at the school. Any inmate of the reformatory, 
who has been confined there for not less than a year, may be 
paroled at the discretion of a majority of the board of 
directors and the superintendent, to remain in legal custody 
of the board of parole until his sentence expires. Inmates 
who persistently refuse to obey the rules may be transferred 
to the jail' of the county whence sentenced, or to prison. 

The directors bought at a cost of about thirty-six thousand 
dollars, four hundred and seventy acres in the northern 
part of Cheshire in a sightly and beautiful place, amid 
attractive scenery and in healthful surroundings. There 
are to be shops for the learning of trades, and facilities for 
the uplift of the inmates, and the capacity when completed 
will be a thousand men. Within the proposed scheme of 
the reformatory is the plan of a dormitory department, to 
which the men are to graduate from the block of steel cells. 
In that department several men of kindred tastes and 
development, men, for example, who are interested in 
electrical engineering, who have proved themselves reliable* 
will be allowed to room together, and not only enjoy con- 
versation together, but will be able to help one another in 
many ways. Infraction of rules, or breach of confidence, 
will send men back to the steel cells for a season. The 
object and methods of the institution will be such as shall 
foster hope, encourage self-respect, and train for self-support 
and usefulness as citizens. The reformatory opened on 
June 24, 1913, with accommodations for four hundred men, 
with Albert Garvin superintendent. 

There is also an association to befriend discharged 
prisoners, and aid in the repression of crime, which was 
organized March 9, 1875, called The Prisoners 1 Friends 
Corporation, and December 8, 1876, a reorganization was 
effected under the name of The Connecticut Prison Associa- 
tion. It aims to help reform criminals, assist prisoners toward 
industry and self-respect, promote reformatory systems 
of prison management, and cooperate in the prevention and 



454 -A. History of Connecticut 

repression of crime. A committee visits the prison every 
month to talk with the prisoners about to be released, offers 
assistance, and advises concerning plans. On the morning 
of the discharge, an agent of the association meets the pris- 
oner at the prison, goes with him to Hartford, and carries 
out the plans most likely to benefit him. Necessary clothing 
is provided in addition to the suit given on his discharge, 
transportation home, and five dollars to pay the first week's 
board. This association has supervision over the proba- 
tion service of the state, providing blanks for reports and 
books for record; and every probation officer reports 
quarterly to the prison association. The probation law 
was enacted in 1903, and it provides that judges shall 
appoint probation officers in different parts of the state to 
act under the direction of the court that appoints them. 
Their duties are to investigate the cases to appear before 
the court, report at the trials, preserve records of inves- 
tigations, take charge of all persons placed on probation, 
and require of them reports of conduct. Every person 
placed in charge of a probation officer is the ward of the 
officer. There are few other laws for the benefit of those 
in danger of going utterly wrong that have been more 
valuable in their working than the probation law. 

A very important element in the penal and reformatory 
system of the state is the county jails. These are used for 
the safe-keeping of persons awaiting trial, and for the deten- 
tion of those who have been adjudged guilty of crimes less 
serious than those requiring sentences to the state prison. 
They are havens of rest and refreshment for persons 
poisoned, delirious and woebegone through rum. They are 
fairly comfortable winter homes for lazy or discouraged 
men, for vagrants who tire of stormy wanderings and the 
densely populated town lockups. "Thirty days in jail and 
costs," is a mild sedative for the frisky spirits of a young 
fellow, who is not bad, only a little careless, sometimes 
reckless, through lack of home training and evil associates. 



Penal and Reformatory Institutions 455 

Good people are wont to express the pious wish that the 
"medicine" will do the patient "a lot of good." The 
jails are under the care of sheriffs elected for short terms. 
The iniquitous fee system has in the main gone by, but 
the salary in some counties is large enough to be a rich 
prize to those who seek the position. If political skill and 
popularity were qualifications for dealing with the varie- 
gated assortment of youthful offenders, tramps, "bound- 
overs," drunken rounders, and seasoned criminals, then the 
jail system is ideal in its management. If the allurement to 
help the men toward reform and reduce crime could compete 
with the temptation to make a good financial showing, the 
situation might be relieved. As to the places of confinement, 
they are retarded evolutions of the jails which began in the 
little germ at Hartford in 1640, "built twenty-four foote 
long, and sixteen or eighteen broad, with a Celler, either of 
wood or stowne." They are parts of a plant whose most 
gaudy blossom was Newgate. They are on about the same 
level as the other jails of the country, of which the American 
Prison Association in 1907, through a committee, which 
had made an investigation of the county jails of different 
states, with the cooperation of the Charities and Commons, 
said, "If the only, or chief purpose of the jails were to keep 
wild beasts in cages, most of them are well enough adapted 
to the -purpose." 

During the year ending September 30, 191 1, ten thousand 
nine hundred and sixty persons were sentenced to these 
jails. The average jail population through the year was 
one thousand and seventy-one, and the average term of 
commitment was thirty-six days. Though the jails are in 
charge of sheriffs who are responsible to the county com- 
missioners, the state helps in the financial support, and 
during the year ending September 30, 191 1, Connecticut 
paid for the board of prisoners in the jails over one hundred 
and twenty-six thousand dollars. During the year 19 10, 
the state gave toward the support of the prison, twenty-one 



456 .A. History of Connecticut 

thousand five hundred dollars. The average population 
in the prison during this period was six hundred and four, 
making the average expense to the state of each inmate, 
less than thirty-six dollars. During 191 1, the average 
expense for each inmate in the county jails was one 
hundred and eighteen dollars. It should be remembered 
that the convicts in state prison are committed for much 
longer terms, and that their labor is worth more than that 
of short-term inmates of the jails. During the year ending 
September 30, 191 1, the total receipts from the labor of 
prisoners in jails was twenty-four thousand one hundred and 
forty-two dollars, an average of twenty-two dollars and fifty- 
four cents a year, or about seven cents a day for every pris- 
oner. The year 1909, gives a little better showing — a 
little over nine cents a day apiece. In the prison, for the 
year ending September 30, 19 12, the population was six 
hundred and twenty-three, and the earnings were seventy- 
eight thousand and seventy-five dollars, or one hundred and 
twenty-five dollars apiece. Of the eleven thousand six 
hundred and fourteen persons sentenced to the jails during 
the year ending September 30, 19 10, six thousand and fifty 
had been in jail before, and of the ten thousand nine hundred 
and sixty persons sent to the county jails in the year ending 
September 30, 191 1, four thousand five hundred and ninety- 
four were committed for drunkenness, three thc.isand 
seven hundred and twenty-four for breach of the peace, 
larceny, vagrancy, and trespass. These and the others 
committed to await trial and for other reasons are not 
classified, separated, and supervised with a view to reform, 
except that the ugliest are kept in cages, the bound-overs are 
confined in their cells, and the rest polish leather, make 
chairs, brooms, artificial stone, and other articles. In some 
jails, there is no open court where the bound-overs can exer- 
cise under the sky; in one large jail these men, who are not 
to be considered as guilty until so proved, and who are some- 
times compelled to stay in confinement three and even four 



Penal and Reformatory Institutions 457 

months, are taken from their cells for exercise only twice a 
week, when they walk in a dismal hallway. In another 
large jail, this class of prisoners is solaced by permission to 
visit one another; and one can see two men locked up to- 
gether through the day, an evidence of the sheriff's desire 
to be kind, even at the risk of private instruction in vice 
and crime. Women in the jails are together much of the 
time, and in one large jail, from the time the shops close on 
Saturday noon until Monday morning the men are allowed 
to herd together in sections, not according to degrees of 
guilt, or likelihood of amendment, but according to location 
in the stacks of cells; a dozen men or so have the freedom 
of a corridor perhaps ten by thirty feet. Care is taken that 
men of the same gang are confined in different tiers, but 
there the young offender and toughened reprobate are to- 
gether, with all the opportunity for theft, vile stories, and 
quarrels. This is a shade better than the custom in the 
Hartford jail in 1835, when prisoners were put into cells in 
groups of five. 

An observer, who has seen convicts in the prison sitting 
at a broad table conversing in a self-respecting way with 
friends opposite, is depressed by the spectacle of jail prisoners 
standing talking at a grating of so fine a mesh that a corpu- 
lent fly could not crawl through. The reason for the 
precaution is that nothing might be passed to the pris- 
oner, but the inmates of the prison are more likely to be 
desperate men than the inmates of jails, and there the 
supervision of officers is a sufficient safeguard. The con- 
tract system is not so bad as it was a few years ago, when 
overseers of the company buying the labor were allowed to 
punish the men according to their judgment or caprice. 
The custom still prevails in some of the jails of handing the 
prisoners over to the agents of the company, only requiring 
that bonds be given to return them in undiminished numbers 
at noon and night. There is no officer of the jail in attend- 
ance, and the only object the contracting company has 



458 A. History of Connecticut 

in view is to get all the work possible out of the men. As 
to cleanliness, there is considerable diversity in this very 
difficult matter, according to the judgment and vigilance 
of sheriffs and jailers, the age and appliances of the buildings, 
and the number and intelligence of the officers allowed by the 
commissioners to watch out against the ever-present vermin. 
In the most perfectly equipped modern jails and prisons it 
is next to impossible to keep down the creeping population 
which delights to infest the denizens of misery and crime. 
There is in some jails of the state a more exacting and 
successful hostility to these offensive parasites than in others. 
It is unfortunate that the county jails should have to serve 
the double purpose of places of detention for sentenced 
men and the safe-keeping of those awaiting trial. 

No advance in the methods of treating drunkards has 
been made since 1650, when fines and stocks, with imprison- 
ment until reformation for obstinate cases, were the penal- 
ties. The ridiculous police court system of small fine and 
short jail sentence, handed thoughtlessly down, is as absurd 
a method as could be imagined for a crime which is largely 
a disease. The "Dean of all the drunkards," in the New 
Haven jail, illustrates the folly of the system. This man 
entered the jail about the year 1878, and most of the time 
since then he has spent in the same cell in a course of about 
two hundred sentences. Hartford has a rounder who has 
spent the greater part of thirty-three years in jail. It is 
estimated that the state is spending upwards of a million 
dollars a year in this irrational and ineffective business. 
There are men and women who have spent most of the past 
twenty years in the jails, under sentences varying from thirty 
to one hundred and eighty days. When not returned within a 
week or two of dismissal, the jailer begins to wonder why 
the familiar guest does not appear. There is no pretense 
or expectation that the costly trials and imprisonments will 
do the man any good; one institution in the state with a 
large farm and proper medical care for this class of diseased 



Penal and Reformatory Institutions 459 

men, together with indeterminate sentences, would promise 
something valuable. Then there are the youthful offenders, 
who need discipline, counsel, encouragement, and wise treat- 
ment; who might well summon the ghosts of John Howard 
and Elizabeth Fry to rid them of the "trusties," to secure 
books and light, and to help them to their feet. 

To relieve the gloom of this chapter, and present a hopeful 
method of work, it is a pleasure to notice the George Junior 
Republic, in Litchfield. There upon a farm of one hundred 
and fifty acres, the homestead of Mrs. Mary T. Buell, and 
given by her for the uses of the Republic, is an institution 
for boys who are disposed to be wayward, and who are 
difficult to manage. The boys must have reached the age 
of fourteen and be sound in mind and body. It is not 
intended to receive boys who are confirmed in viciousness, 
but upon application by parents and by commitment by 
the courts, boys are taken and formed into a small common- 
wealth, under an efficient superintendent, a housekeeper 
and teachers. The school furnishes a good common school 
training, and for more advanced studies some boys attend 
the High School, which is two and a half miles away. The 
motto of the institution is Nothing without Labor, and every 
boy is expected to earn that which he enjoys or consumes. 
The hours of work are from half-past seven until twelve, 
and school follows, from one until five. In return, every 
boy receives a definite wage paid him in the scrip of the 
Republic, and with this he must pay for his food and lodg- 
ing. Regular accounts are kept for every boy, and at the 
weekly reckoning, he must show a bank account of a certain 
standard; otherwise he becomes a pauper and undergoes 
certain penalties. These operate to bring him back to his 
work when he resumes his place in the social order. The 
sources of employment are chiefly the farm and the school, 
and a workshop will soon furnish opportunity for carpentry 
and forge work. The system of self-government throws a 
varying weight of responsibility on every boy, which tends 



460 A. History of Connecticut 

to develop manhood. He passes through the grades of 
official position — clerk of court, state's attorney, chief of 
police, vice-president, and president; he learns that govern- 
ment is not outside himself, to be tricked and thwarted, but 
that he is a part of a necessary system of control, and that 
his own well-being is wrapped up in that of the government. 
The community system develops a spirit of patriotism, 
and when a boy reaches the time to leave the Republic, he 
usually does so trained in the principles of self-government, 
and prepared to enter on the larger responsibilities of good 
citizenship. The school opened in April, 1904, and it will 
soon be able to accommodate forty boys. It is dependent 
upon the public for much of the money needed, since the 
parents and guardians of many of the boys are poor. One of 
the marked features of the George Junior Republic is the 
loyalty it develops, and the boys come to love and take 
pride in the system of government of which they form active 
parts. 

Of late there has been a strong trend toward prevention 
of crime and reform of criminals, and there is a widespread 
hope that the agitations now going on, and measures which 
are forming, will lead to a more rational treatment of incipient 
criminals. The probation law and the new reformatory are 
signs of progress. 



CHAPTER XXXIV 
PHILANTHROPIC INSTITUTIONS 

OUR narratives, tracing the development of religion, 
penal institutions, and laws to check crime, have 
prepared us for an elaborate chapter on philanthropic 
institutions, which, though late in coming, are developing 
into a varied fruitage. The tardiness characterizing the 
coming of these means for social betterment was due to the 
fact that positive and extensive methods of practical help- 
fulness for the unfortunate did not take form until the 
opening of the nineteenth century. As we have seen, the 
towns were compelled from an early date to protect them- 
selves and their comfortable citizens from dangerous and 
annoying sufferers, but it was long before these pitiable 
people were cared for because they were needy. The first 
reference to an insane person is in the New Haven records 
for 1648, in which we read that Good wife Lampson was 
cared for away from home, but as there was "little amend- 
ment," her husband was ordered "to take her home, or else 
get another place where she might be kept and looked to." 
At one time Norwich was greatly bothered with the trouble 
and expense of maintaining a poor Ediote, or spelled some- 
times Edjouett, named Peter Davison, but the case was 
referred to the legislature, which made provision for him, 
and in 1699, passed a law entitled, "An Act for the relieving 
of Idiots and distracted Persons," in which no distinction 
was made between insane, feeble-minded and idiotic, but 

461 



462 .A. History of Connecticut 

it provided that whenever a person should be "wanting of 
understanding, or so as to be incapable to provide for him 
or herself," or should become insane, and no relative pro- 
vide, the selectman or overseer of the poor was to make 
provision, and if the patient had property, it was to be sold 
to pay the charges, and if not the town must pay the bills. 
The duty of caring for the unfortunate person lay on the 
officials in the town where he was born, or was an inhabitant. 
This was long before there were any asylums, and no refer- 
ence was made to any such institution, or to the method of 
caring for the patient. The workhouse law of 1727, con- 
tained an important clause, which provided for the confine- 
ment of the insane in the workhouse, if he was unfit to be 
out upon the street, and his friends did not care for him. 
The advantage of depending on the town where the insane 
person resided rather than upon the town where he was born 
appeared in 1756, when an insane person was seen wandering 
through Wallingford, without clothing, and the Assembly 
ordered the town to provide for her. Before 1750, the colony 
had helped support several persons, who by the revision of 
that year were made colony charges. In one case it assisted 
a father to care for his demented son, who had become 
insane while in the military service of the colony. 

The unwillingness of towns to care for insane persons, 
who were at times allowed to wander without restraint, led 
to the passing of the law of 1793. This made it the duty of 
the civil authority and selectmen of the town of residence 
to order all such dangerous insane to be confined in a suitable 
place. They might even order that they be committed to 
the jail. At the same time, the authority to commit to the 
workhouse was withdrawn. In 1797, the section regarding 
confinement in jail was repealed, and for years there was no 
public place in which insane persons who were not criminals 
could be confined. As the authorities were unwilling to 
act in 1824, a law was passed that any citizen could com- 
plain to one of the civil authority or selectmen of an insane 



PKilantKropic Institutions 463 

person at large, and if in three days no action was taken, 
he might make a written complaint, under oath, to any 
justice of the peace in the town, informing him that the 
person -was " dangerous and unfit to be without restraint." 
It was then the duty of the justice of the peace immediately 
by warrant to have the person brought before him, or some 
other justice, and if the facts justified, order him to be con- 
fined in a suitable place. In all these provisions it was the 
protection of the community, and not the care of the harm- 
less insane, that was considered. Regard for them, except 
through conservators, did not come until later. In the law 
of 1793, there was provision made for the first time for the 
insane criminal. A person who had been acquitted of man- 
slaughter, on the ground of insanity, might be committed 
by the court to the county jail, to be held there during the 
continuance of his insanity. We do not like to imagine how 
those unfortunates were treated in those early days, but in 
a memorial presented to the Assembly in 1786, Mary Weed 
of Stratford stated that for twenty years her husband had 
been so insane that he had to be kept chained. 

The movement for the relief of the insane in America 
will always be associated with the name of Dr. Eli Todd, who 
was born in New Haven in 1769, graduated from Yale in 
1787, and when scarcely twenty-one years old began the 
practice of medicine in Farmington, where he became emi- 
nent for his skill during the thirty years he was there. In 
18 19, he moved to Hartford, where he rose at once to the 
head of his profession, and was consulted more frequently 
than any other physician in the state. In the spring of 
182 1, there was an unusual number of cases of insanity, and 
Dr. Todd, seeing the difficulty of managing them in the 
houses of their friends and learning that there were at least 
eight hundred such sufferers in the state, many of them wan- 
dering about half-clad and wretched, and many lodged in 
poorhouses, jails, and cages, chained, scourged, and despised, 
urged upon the Hartford Medical Society the importance 



464 -A. History of Connecticut 

of an institution for the relief of the sufferers. The matter 
was presented to the Medical Convention of the state by 
Dr. Todd with such eloquence and force that a committee 
was appointed, of which he was chairman, to devise ways 
and means to establish an institution ; subscriptions to the 
amount of twelve thousand dollars were secured, a charter 
obtained from the legislature, land bought in Hartford, and 
in 1824, the Retreat was ready to receive sixty patients. 
There was only one man who was thought of for superintend- 
ent and physician, and that was Eli Todd, who was elected 
by the officials January 7, 1823. The name Retreat was 
taken from the famous York Retreat of England, which 
was founded on humane lines by the Quakers in 1796, under 
the leadership of a wealthy merchant named William Tuke. 
Todd not only borrowed the name but he adopted the 
methods of the Oxford Retreat, seeing that it was better to 
regulate by interesting employment the excitement and 
delusions of the insane than to suppress by force. His 
method was not a code of rules but personal devotion, 
gentleness and tact; his profound sympathy with the men- 
tally diseased stamped all his views and conduct. 

The success of the new method was clear; the inmates 
trusted and loved Dr. Todd as a father, and it was soon 
known far and wide that the Retreat was a pioneer in the 
philanthropic treatment of a neglected class. Massachu- 
setts sent a committee headed by Horace Mann to secure 
Todd's services in establishing an institution in that state 
at a salary nearly double that given at the Retreat, and a 
similar offer came to take charge of the Bloomingdale 
Asylum in New York, but he chose to remain in Hartford, 
perfecting the methods, introducing trained nurses, taking 
up the subject of inebriety and its treatment, and equipping 
men to take charge of other institutions after the humane 
and reasonable method. Dr. Lee, a pupil of Dr. Todd who 
resided two or three years at the Retreat, became physician 
of the McLean Asylum near Boston; Dr. Woodward, one 



Philanthropic Institutions 465 

of the founders and one of the medical directors, was elected 
superintendent of the Massachusetts Insane Hospital at 
Worcester, and his assistant, a man from Connecticut, was 
the first physician of a similar establishment in New Hamp- 
shire; another, Dr. J. A. Butler, was put in charge of the 
Boston Asylum. When Vermont established an asylum at 
Brattleboro, Dr. Rockwell, a faithful assistant of Dr. Todd, 
was chosen physician, and when New York built its magnifi- 
cent hospital, Dr. Brigham was transferred from the Hart- 
ford Retreat to the Utica Asylum. Dr. Todd was with the 
Retreat until his death in 1833, conciliatory yet dignified, 
looking with rare skill and intuition into the causes of mental 
disease, taking the institution in its infancy, with few re- 
sources and patients, and by a plan of management pecul- 
iarly his own, carrying it into successful operation, and 
raising it to the highest character by the cures and the com- 
fort of the inmates. 

The Hartford Retreat is a private institution, under 
state supervision, and the governor, together with two 
commissioners, appointed by the legislature, superintends 
the general affairs of the hospital, while the board of visitors 
and the management are not under public control. The 
Retreat was designed for those who are able to pay for treat- 
ment, but on May 19, 1830, the directors passed resolutions 
directing that indigent lunatics be admitted, provided that 
the disease had not existed six months, and that the number 
of such persons in the Retreat did not exceed ten, and that 
no person of that description should remain in the institution 
over six months. 

In the spring of 1838, a set of questions was sent through 
the state, similar to the questions of 182 1. On the basis 
of the returns it was estimated that there were nine hundred 
insane persons in Connecticut, about one-half of whom were 
paupers. Many were cared for at home by those who could 
not afford to support them elsewhere. The facts were 
presented to the Assembly in a memorial from the directors 
30 



466 A. History of Connecticut 

of the Retreat for the Insane. This was continued to the 
next session, and a committee of three was appointed to 
investigate. The committee reported that there were 
probably more than seventy sufferers who were confined in 
cells or in chains, that there were at least nine hundred 
insane and idiotic persons in the state, and that sixty be- 
came insane every year. It recommended that there should 
be established a state institution to accommodate one 
hundred and twenty patients, to be located on a plot of not 
less than fifty acres. It was suggested that it be near the 
Retreat, that it might be under the same medical super- 
vision. It believed that drunkards should be confined 
also, holding that drunkenness was a real disease, thus 
anticipating by thirty years the views leading to institu- 
tions for inebriates. In 1839, another committee reported 
that, having consulted the directors of the Retreat, they had 
learned that for not more than twenty-five thousand dollars, 
sufficient land could be secured near the Retreat, and build- 
ings erected for one hundred and fifty patients. The Retreat 
would care for these at the rate of two dollars per week. 
The committee, however, favored a separate institution. The 
Assembly appointed a committee to select a site. The 
report, which was submitted to the legislature in 1840, rec- 
ommended the erection in Middletown of a state institution 
for the insane. The Assembly did not adopt the report, but 
directed the selectmen to send to the secretary of state a cor- 
rect list of the insane and idiotic persons about town, speci- 
fying which each was, stating whether they were harmless or 
dangerous, and giving their names, ages, length of time they 
had been insane, the causes, if known, how they were sup- 
ported, the cost per week of those cared for by the town, and 
how many of these the town would probably support in a state 
institution at two dollars a week, the price at which the 
directors of the Retreat had offered to care for the patients. 
In 1842, the governor was made a commissioner to enter into 
a contract with the Retreat to receive the insane who could 



PHilantHropic Institutions 467 

not pa} 7 their way, at a cost not to exceed two thousand dollars 
a year. This method was followed until there was a state 
asylum, although the expense increased. From 1853, to 
1857, it amounted to nearly thirty-seven thousand dollars. 
In 1868, the appropriation was twenty thousand dollars, 
besides the amount given the Retreat for the erection of new 
buildings. From 1842, to 1851, there were admitted to the 
Retreat four hundred and thirty-nine state beneficiaries, 
of whom two hundred and eleven had been discharged cured. 
In 1845, a law was passed authorizing selectmen to make 
contracts with the Retreat for the care of their insane 
poor, and in 1855, the state began to help the towns in this 
expense. 

In 1866, it was clearly seen that Connecticut must make 
"ample and suitable provision for its insane," of whom it 
was computed that there were between four and five hun- 
dred in need of a hospital. A board of trustees was ap- 
pointed; many institutions in other states were visited, and a 
tract of one hundred and fifty acres was offered by Middle- 
town for a site. Afterward eighty acres, connecting with 
the larger tract, was purchased, and the work of putting 
up buildings began in the autumn of 1867. It was called 
"The General Hospital for the Insane of the State of 
Connecticut." It was found by examination in other states 
that the cost of a suitable building would be at the rate of 
eighteen hundred and seventy -two dollars for every 
patient. While the outlay was heavy, it was argued 
that a felon's cell was no place for one afflicted with 
the terrible disease, and that while an early treatment led to 
cure in about eighty per cent, of the cases, not more than one 
in ten recovered after the delicate texture of the brain had 
so suffered by neglect that it had become permanently im- 
paired. In 1868, the directors of the Retreat notified the 
towns having patients there to remove the inmates by 
the first of May, that improvements might be made in the 
building. Gradually the Middletown Hospital was enlarged, 



468 .A History of Connecticut 

and additional appliances introduced, such as books, papers, 
music, plants and social entertainments, and the farm be- 
came a means of profit in many ways. In 1870, an eminent 
pathologist was employed to study and treat cases of special 
difficulty. In 1871, the cottage system was tested and found 
valuable for a certain class of patients, and about that time, 
the custom began of setting apart an evening a week to 
music and dancing. On other evenings there are stereopti- 
con exhibitions, lectures, concerts, and readings; it is also the 
practice to have a band playing during meals. Outdoor 
military drill has been found of decided value in quieting 
the nerves. In 1877, the price of board was four dollars 
per week, and in case a patient came at the expense of the 
town, the cost was divided equally between state and town. 
The optimism prevailing in the earlier years concerning the 
probable recovery of a large proportion waned, as it was 
found that of the fifteen hundred and eighty inmates in 
1894, on b r seventy-four had been insane less than a year, and 
over a thousand for more than five years. In 1902, the 
number of inmates was two thousand two hundred and 
fifty-nine, and in 1912, it had increased to two thousand 
five hundred and twenty. 

The report of 1899, stated that the town statistics 
showed three hundred and thirty-six cases outside the 
asylums. The State Hospital contained one hundred and 
twenty more than could well be accommodated, and the 
average annual increase of the insane in the state was sixty- 
four ; it was consequently regarded as unwise to enlarge the 
State Hospital further. The majority of the committee 
recommended that there be erected on a site offered to the 
state by Norwich a second hospital to accommodate one 
thousand patients. The recommendation of the minority 
to make changes in the Middletown Hospital was adopted. 
In 1903, the Assembly passed an act creating a state hospital 
to be known as the Norwich Hospital for the Insane, pro- 
vided that Norwich would donate the necessary land, 



PHilantHropic Institutions 469 

according to its former vote. It was accepted, and the 
hospital was opened October 10, 1904. At the close of the 
first year there were one hundred and twenty-one patients 
in the hospital. At the present time there are nearly eight 
hundred patients. A better location for the cure of the 
mentally diseased could not be imagined. The ground 
rises sharply from the Thames River, and then spreads out 
into a level plain of sixty acres. A beautiful brook flows 
through the farm. Quiet, restfulness, and lovely views in 
all directions form healthful and attractive conditions. 

Every patient receives a thorough mental and physical 
examination within twenty-four hours of his admission. 
Diet and treatment correspond with the diagnosis. Me- 
chanical restraint, as at Middletown, has been dispensed 
with as far as possible. In this particular there has been a 
marked change in the last forty years. It is never applied 
except under the written order of a medical officer, and when 
the supervisor or a medical officer is present. Trial visits 
to relatives are encouraged for the convalescent. Indus- 
trial work on the farm and in the kitchen, laundry, and 
sewing-rooms furnishes employment for many. Amusement 
is supplied as far as the facilities admit. A laboratory has 
been installed which has added greatly to the accuracy of 
diagnosis through the tests of clinical material. 

The whole subject of mental disease has been carefully 
studied of late, and insanity is placed in a new light; and 
superstition with all the traditional notions of demoniacal 
possession has been swept aside, as it is known that brain 
tissues may be diseased as well as the lungs. As a conse- 
quence of this confidence, the public asylums have grown 
rapidly, and large numbers of insane persons, who had been 
kept in seclusion, have been transferred to the state asylums ; 
then too, the industrial situation of the last thirty years 
has tended to fill asylums, as more women have worked 
in shops and manufactories, for it has been found expedient 
to support a relative at Middletown for two dollars a week, 



47° -A. History of Connecticut 

and thereby release a woman who can earn eight dollars 
a week. We also bear in mind that some who formerly 
went to the jails are sent to the asylums; there are also poor 
wrecks of humanity who cannot be conveniently cared for 
at home, and these, with others whose minds are diseased, 
are kept along through good care and nursing. It comes to 
pass that the increase in insanity, which the statistics give, 
is more apparent than real, though hospitals are crowded, 
and a waiting list of thirty or more is often found at the 
offices. These things are to be borne in mind when we note 
that the ratio of the insane who are officially regarded as 
such to the general population in 1870, was one to six 
hundred and ninety-six; in 1880, one to three hundred and 
sixty; in 1890, one to three hundred and sixty-eight, and in 
19 14 the ratio is the highest recorded: viz., one to three 
hundred. There are about thirty-five hundred in our 
various institutions, and there are enough at large to swell 
the number to four thousand. 

The question now arises, to what extent do the foreign- 
born affect our asylum population? It is clear that they 
constitute an important factor, and one that is steadily 
advancing, as appears from the fact that in 1850, four per 
cent, were foreign-born; in i860, eleven per cent.; in 1870, 
twenty-one per cent.; in 1880, twenty-nine per cent, and in 
1890, thirty-nine per cent. This table does not show the 
percentages of those who were born in this country of 
foreign parents, one or both. In the computation of the 
decade from 1900, to 19 10, this feature is made to appear 
in the reckoning, and assists in the total of over forty- two 
per cent, of cases admitted as public beneficiaries. In 1900, 
the foreign-born population of the state was twenty-six 
per cent, of the entire population; in 1910, twenty-nine 
and five-tenths per cent., and during 1898-1902, thirty- 
eight per cent, of the admissions to the hospitals were of 
foreign birth and parentage. In other words, twenty-six 
per cent, of the population furnished thirty-eight per cent. 



PHilantHropic Institutions 471 

of the insane during those four years. England matches 
our increase, and Lord Rosebery recently stated that in 
fifty years the population had increased seventy-five per 
cent., and lunacy two hundred and thirty per cent. 

The support of paupers and indigent persons is paid in 
part by the state, and the price is fixed by the trustees, 
except that the total expense for Connecticut paupers is 
limited to three dollars and a half per week, and for those 
not resident in a Connecticut town and supported entirely 
by the state it is three dollars. This must include "all 
necessary food, clothing, medicine and medical attend- 
ance." Since 1895, the towns, whose selectmen apply for the 
admission of a pauper, pay two dollars per week, and 
the state pays the balance. Instead of sending paupers to 
the State Hospital, selectmen may contract with the Re- 
treat at Hartford. It became evident a few years ago 
that taxpayers contributed to support so many foreign-born 
dependents that Congress was appealed to. In 1903, "An 
Act to Regulate the Immigration of Aliens into the United 
States" was passed without opposition, under which all 
persons who had been insane within five years previous, all 
idiots, epileptics, and others likely to become a public charge 
were excluded . This was not satisfactory , and in 1 907 , a more 
stringent measure was passed, under which an alien that has 
been afflicted by any disease likely to render him a public 
charge at any time prior to landing is considered a subject 
for deportation. This has tended to lower the percentage 
of the foreign insane, but in spite of this, there is a slight 
increase, chiefly from Russia, Poland, Austria, and Italy. 

Questions are often asked concerning the treatment of 
the insane. The horrible cruelties discovered in England 
a century ago have left in some minds a trace of suspicion 
concerning the excessive use of the strait-jacket, wristlets, 
leather or canvas muff and mittens and anklets. So violent 
is the reaction against mechanical restraints, that in 1890, 
it was ordered that they be disused, and that attendants be 



472 A. History of Connecticut 

required to hold the violent patient. There is objection 
to this from several sources, especially in view of the fact 
that a powerful man may require six attendants to master 
him. At present, mechanical restraint is rarely used, and 
only in such desperate cases of suicidal tendency as compels 
its employment to save life. The rule in all institutions is to 
allow the patients the utmost freedom consistent with safety. 
Many are allowed to go about the grounds without super- 
vision of any kind, and others obtain permission to go 
about town, make purchases at the stores, attend church or 
circus, and very few abuse the confidence reposed in them; 
when an escape is recorded, it is the rule that one of these 
persons who was trusted failed to keep his promise to return 
within a given time. 

The American School for the Deaf at Hartford, is the 
oldest institution for the instruction of the deaf in the 
United States, and it owes its origin to the efforts of Dr. 
Mason F. Cogswell, whose infant daughter, while suffering 
from spotted fever in 1807, became totally deaf. When 
she was ten years old, the father, wishing to procure for her 
an education, sought the cooperation of his friends and 
neighbors to establish a school for deaf-mutes. The funds 
were readily secured, and the Rev. Thomas Gallaudet 
was chosen to lead in the matter. Though unwilling to 
give up the ministry, he was prevailed upon to go to England 
to study methods; meeting opposition there he went to 
Paris, where Abbe Sicard was in charge of the institution 
for deaf-mutes, founded in 1760, by the Abbe de l'Epee. 
Gallaudet had every facility offered him there to learn the 
art, and after a year's instruction, he returned in August, 
18 16, bringing with him Laurent Clerc, a pupil of Sicard, and 
instructor in the Paris institution. An act of incorporation 
was granted by the legislature in 18 16, for the " Connecticut 
Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and 
Dumb Persons." The legislature appropriated five thou- 
sand dollars, and private gifts yielded twelve hundred more. 



PHilantHropic Institutions 473 

On April 15, 181 7, the school was opened in a building on 
Main Street, Hartford. The attendance increased so much 
that the directors thought that the work should be national, 
and Congress was induced to give an appropriation. On 
account of this gift, and the probability that the institution 
would be largely national, it was thought best to change the 
name to the American Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb. 
The name now is American School for the Deaf. The 
buildings now occupied were opened in 1821, and in that 
year arrangements were made with other New England 
states to educate their deaf. The system is eclectic: the 
manual alphabet, natural signs, writing, lip-reading, and 
articulation are all used to secure mental development and 
a ready use of the English language, oral and written. 
Teaching in articulation and lip-reading began in 1857, and 
there are several classes conducted almost wholly by oral 
methods. 

Action by the legislature concerning the deaf is as follows. 
In 1829, selectmen were required by a law passed that year to 
report to the governor by January of each year, the number 
of deaf and blind persons within their respective towns, 
together with the age, sex and pecuniary circumstances of 
each. In 1837, the governor was appointed a commissioner 
to select, upon examination and evidence, deaf persons be- 
tween the ages of twelve and twenty-five, belonging to 
Connecticut, whose parents could not contribute to their 
education at the school in Hartford. He might contract 
with the school for their education, for not more than five 
years, and on terms not less favorable than were granted to 
other states. They were to cost the state not more than 
twenty-five hundred dollars a year, which included an allow- 
ance of not more than twenty dollars a year for clothing. 
In 1843, the age limits were made eight and twenty -five. 
The amount of annual appropriation was increased from time 
to time until, in 1874, it was made eleven thousand dollars. 
In 1 87 1, the governor was authorized to contract with Clark 



474 A History of Connecticut 

Institute of Northampton for the education of several, and 
later, to send those who had lived in the state for five 
years to Groton at an annual expense of not more than one 
hundred and seventy-five dollars. In 1899, it was decided 
to give the preference to the Hartford school, because of 
its eclectic instruction. The cost per pupil is two hundred 
and fifty dollars per year, and the governor chooses the state 
beneficiaries from the list furnished by selectmen. 

Interest in the blind began at the same time with that 
of the deaf. From 1829, selectmen were required to report 
to the governor by January 15 of each year, the number of 
blind persons in their towns, with age, sex, and pecuniary 
circumstances. In 1838, the governor was appointed 
commissioner of the blind. He was to select blind persons 
under the age of twenty -five to educate in the New England 
Institution for the Blind, in Boston, for not more than five 
years, provided their friends could not contribute to their 
support. The expense was limited to one thousand dollars 
a year. In 1840, the age limit was raised to forty, provided 
there were not enough suitable persons under twenty-five. 
In 1845, the age restriction was removed entirely, because the 
appropriation was not all called for. By 1856, the amount 
was raised to two thousand dollars, and in 1874, it had 
become six thousand dollars a year. In 1867, a bill was 
passed giving selectmen authority to exempt from taxation 
the estate of blind persons who were unable to support 
themselves and their families, and in 1873, this exemption 
was made mandatory. As those who had been educated 
in the Perkins School in Boston on returning home lapsed 
into their former helpless condition a law was passed in 
1893, which aimed to secure an education for every blind 
child in the state. 

The act created the board of education for the blind. It 
consists of the governor and the chief justice of the Supreme 
Court as permanent members, and of one man and one 
woman besides, to be appointed by the governor for four 



PHilantHropic Institutions 475 

years. The board may provide for the education, for so 
long time as it deems expedient, of "blind persons, or persons 
so nearly blind they cannot have instruction in the public 
schools, who are of suitable age and capacity for instruction 
in the simple branches of education, and who are legal resi- 
dents of the state." The expense for each pupil may not 
exceed three hundred dollars a year, except that where par- 
ents are unable to provide clothing and transportation, an 
additional thirty dollars may be allowed. The board may 
contract for education with any institution it may choose, 
and compel attendance of any minor blind child. 

The Connecticut Institute and Industrial Home for the 
Blind, created by the act of 1893, has been of great service, 
and two years after it opened, fifteen thousand dollars was 
appropriated to provide needed buildings, furniture, machin- 
ery, tools, implements, and apparatus for the use of the 
blind. The institute was exempted from taxation, and 
authorized to sell in any part of the state without license 
any goods manufactured in whole or in part by it in the 
training of the blind. In 1899, it was voted that no male 
pupil should be supported by the state in the industrial 
department of any institution for more than three years, 
during which time he was to be given practical and unin- 
terrupted instruction in a useful occupation conducive to 
his future support. Also, that at the termination of this 
period, the state board for the education of the blind might, 
under such conditions as it deemed necessary, provide him 
with machinery, tools, and materials to an amount not 
exceeding two hundred dollars, to establish him in some 
useful occupation. In 1903, it was voted to allow this aid 
to any blind person, a legal resident of the state, who has 
been its beneficiary in an industrial institution for the blind, 
on condition that the board is assured that he is "industrious, 
of good habits, and competent to carry on in a competent 
manner a trade." 

The work of Connecticut for the blind at present is in 



47^ .A History of Connecticut 

three departments — nursery, school, and trades. The nur- 
sery has a pleasant home in a house given by E. T. Stotes- 
bury of Philadelphia, and seventeen little children were cared 
for there the past year. The school had enrolled in the year 
ending June 30, 1 9 1 2 , forty-seven pupils. It is located in a new 
and admirable building on the corner of Blue Hills Avenue 
and Holcomb Street, Hartford. In addition to the usual 
studies in public schools, instruction is given in typewriting, 
music, including piano practice and sloyd carpentry. The 
musical Braille notation, a tactile system of raised dots, 
furnishes means for the beginning of a musical education. 
The children also work in the garden, and soon learn to 
distinguish between carrots, potatoes and corn, and weeds. 
It is the policy of the state to send children from this school 
to the Perkins institution, where they are kept as long as the 
board thinks best. The department of trades on Wethers- 
field Avenue, Hartford, had under its charge in the two 
years ending with 1912, fifty-seven blind people — thirty- 
one pupils, twenty-two workers, and four boarders. The 
industries taught and practiced are broom-making, all kinds of 
chair-seating, mattress-making, rug-weaving, and basketry, 
and these have been carried on with success and profit, so 
that graduates can earn their living. A course in poultry- 
keeping and agriculture has also been added. The gift of 
Mrs. William H. Palmer of a tract of forty acres of land 
in Wethersfield will furnish ample field for development 
in farming and poultry. 

Another form of philanthropy is the care of the feeble- 
minded. The United States Census of 1850, called attention 
to the problem of idiocy, and reported two hundred and 
eighty-four idiots in Connecticut. More accurate investiga- 
tion in 1855, by a commission, estimated that there were 
five hundred idiots in the state, and nearly all of them to a 
greater or less degree dependent on public charity. In 
1856, returns were received from one hundred and five 
towns, and from these returns it was estimated that there 



PHilantHropic Institutions 477 

were at least eleven hundred idiots in Connecticut. The 
age was less than twenty in thirty per cent, of the cases 
given. The commission found that the state was manu- 
facturing idiots. In one instance, where a pauper female 
idiot lived in one town, the town authorities hired an idiot 
belonging to another town, and not a pauper, to marry her, 
and the result has been that the town to which the male 
idiot belongs, has for many years had to support the pair, 
and three idiot children. Two or three towns had families 
all the members of which were idiots. There were two 
families with five idiots each. In one instance, where three 
children were idiots, they had been kept in a close room by 
their mother, in a most filthy condition, tied with a short 
rope around their necks, and were never suffered to stand 
or take the fresh air. The cost of idiocy was found to be 
heavy. There were towns of less than two thousand popu- 
lation, where the tax for idiot paupers was seven hundred 
and fifty dollars a year. The commission advised the estab- 
lishment of a school for one hundred pupils. They recom- 
mended that it be a private, state-aided institution, rather 
than one controlled by the state, to keep it out of politics, 
for the sake of economy, and that it might be an object of 
charity. This was voted down, but in 1859, Dr. Henry M. 
Knight, a member of the commission, established at Lake- 
ville a school for imbeciles with one pupil. The legislature 
of i860, authorized the governor to expend not more than 
fifteen hundred dollars for the support of indigent, idiotic 
children in the Lakeville school. In 1862, the appropriation 
of the two previous years was made annual; in 1864, the 
amount was increased to three thousand dollars a year, 
not more than one hundred dollars to be spent on each 
pupil, save in exceptional cases. In 1873, the governor was 
authorized to spend seven thousand dollars a year, the 
amount to each pupil being raised to one hundred and 
twenty-five dollars. Other grants aggregating thirty-three 
thousand dollars have also been made to the school. In 



478 .A History of Connecticut 

1874, eighty-one were received, of whom thirty -five were 
beneficiaries of the state. It has been enlarged; lands and 
buildings have been added, with a lien which would allow 
the state to foreclose, if they should ever be diverted from 
their present use. It is still a private corporation, but by 
an amendment to its charter in 1887, the governor annually 
appoints two members of the executive committee, who are 
ex officio members of the board of directors, to guard the 
interests of the state. The school can now accommodate 
three hundred and eighty pupils, about seventy of whom are 
epileptics. 

The lamented death of Dr. Knight in 1912, has not 
interfered with the work of this admirably organized school, 
which is conducted under the supervision of Mrs. Knight, 
and in 191 3, the legislature arranged to have the state take 
over this school. Whenever a pauper imbecile child is 
found in any town of the state who would be benefited by 
attending the Lakeville school, the selectmen apply to the 
Probate Court for such admission. Investigation follows, 
and if an order is given by the Court to send the child to 
Lakeville, it must be approved by the governor. The state 
pays quarterly to the school two dollars and a half for every 
week a child committed by a selectman remains in the school. 
The difference between this sum and the actual cost of 
support is paid by the friends, or if the child is a pauper, by 
the town, and this expense is one hundred dollars. In 1895, 
an act was passed forbidding the marriage of epileptics or 
imbeciles, and in 1910-11, an act was passed appointing a 
commission to render imbeciles incapable of propagation. 

The Connecticut Colony for Epileptics was organized 
under an act of the General Assembly of 1909, which made 
an appropriation of fifty thousand dollars. The trustees 
appointed by the governor have secured a farm of about 
three hundred and sixty acres in Mansfield, Tolland County. 
A further appropriation of one hundred and forty-five 
thousand dollars has made it possible to provide accommoda- 



Philanthropic Institutions 479 

tions for not more than eighty patients, though there is need 
of more room for the victims of this malady. On the farm 
at present are barn, dairy buildings and a large brick 
farmhouse. The trustees desire to erect four buildings; 
eventually it will be necessary to provide accommodations 
for six hundred inmates, and the applications for admission 
are already urgent. 

The first charitable society for the protection of minors 
was the Hartford Female Beneficent Society, which was 
chartered in 1813. The managers were women, who re- 
ceived authority to take girls who were the objects of charity, 
and also accept the surrender of girls and boys from parents 
or guardians. These could be bound out in "virtuous 
families" until eighteen, except when married before reach- 
ing that age. In 1833-34, orphan asylums were incorpo- 
rated in New Haven, Hartford, and Middletown, and a 
Female Beneficent Association in Fairfield. 

In 1863, the Hartford Home was incorporated — a 
children's institution supported by the city. It was in- 
tended for children who were growing up in idleness and 
neglect to lives of immorality. The prime mover was 
Nathanael H. Morgan, and after seven years it ceased, 
owing to the fact that it had no farm, and because there 
were not enough boys of that class in the city for that 
School and also for the Watkinson Farm School, which 
was so well adapted to work for boys. In 1865, the Hartford 
Orphan Asylum and the Hartford Female Beneficent Society 
were united in the Hartford Orphan Asylum. It was 
authorized to enter into contracts with the Watkinson 
School in order to carry out more fully the objects of both 
institutions. 

The Civil War increased the numbers of the needy 
classes, and in 1864, Fitch's Home for the Soldiers in Darien 
was incorporated. It was founded by Benjamin Fitch of 
that town, to care for those who should be or had been 
soldiers, and to educate and support their children. Eighty- 



480 A. History of Connecticut 

three such children were received before 1871. In 1868, the 
state granted five thousand dollars to enlarge and repair the 
buildings. In 1864, a charter was voted to an institution 
to "provide a home, support and education for the orphan 
or destitute children of Connecticut soldiers, and other citi- 
zens of the state." It was reported that there were "over 
four hundred, many of them soldiers' orphans, in the town 
poorhouses of the state." In October, 1866, the school was 
opened on a farm in Mansfield, in a building erected by 
Edwin Whitney for a boys' school, and given by him for 
this purpose. The school, with state aid, continued its 
work until 1875, when it was closed, and the property 
returned to the widow and daughter of the donor, having 
fulfilled its mission. 

In 1875, there was no public provision for children, who 
could not or ought not remain in their homes, except the 
almshouses and the industrial and reform schools, which 
were intended for incipient criminals. After an inquiry 
a law was passed in 1883, that after January 1, 1884, county 
homes should be provided for these children. There has 
been erected, as the result of this law, a place of refuge in 
every county for children between the ages of four and 
eighteen, who are " waifs, strays, children of prisoners, drunk- 
ards, paupers, and others committed to hospitals, almshouses, 
and all children of said ages, neglected, deserted, cruelly 
treated, or living in any disorderly house." It was not 
to be used as a "permanent residence for any child, but 
for its temporary protection, for so long a time as shall be 
absolutely necessary for the placing of the child in a well 
selected family home." "No child demented, idiotic, or 
suffering from any incurable or contagious disease" may be 
committed to a county home. Overseers of the poor are 
required to place in the county homes all children between 
four and eighteen, who would otherwise be in the almshouse. 
There is at present a large number of institutions for 
children, such as the Hartford Orphan Asylum, with accom- 



PHilantHropic Institutions 481 

modations for one hundred and forty boys and girls, chartered 
in 1833, and well housed on Putnam Street, for neglected 
children in Hartford; the Watkinson Farm School, estab- 
lished in 1884, a homelike school northwest of Hartford for 
boys of twelve and upwards who are in danger of falling into 
vice. This school was provided for in the will of David 
Watkinson of Hartford, and incorporated in 1862. Its 
purpose is to give relief, protection, instruction, and employ- 
ment to minors of six years or over, who are falling into 
"idle, vagrant and vicious courses." Boys attend from all 
parts of the] state ; instruction is given in English studies, 
also in carpentry, cabinet-work, drawing, horticulture, 
and similar branches. The Home for Incurable Children 
was established by the Connecticut Children's Aid Society 
in 1898, and is situated in Newington on a farm of fifty-five 
acres. Nearly one hundred crippled, tuberculous, deformed 
children and others suffering from chronic ailments are 
cared for in comfortable and pleasant houses, which con- 
tain two schoolrooms and a room for instruction in man- 
ual training. There is a cottage for contagious cases. All 
who are teachable attend school, and those who are able 
assist in the housework and in the care of the garden. The 
Children's Aid Society also provides a boarding home for 
twenty to twenty-five dependent children in the Prosser 
Farm Cottage in Bloomfield. These are wards of the soci- 
ety by reason of dependence or neglect, and after being 
placed in homes are in the care of the visiting committee. 

The Children's Home in New Britain was organized in 
1903, and about one hundred children between the ages of 
two and twelve years are received and trained under decided 
Christian influences. The home depends for support on 
voluntary contributions, and preparations are making to- 
wards a home for three hundred children. The New Haven 
Orphan Asylum was chartered in 1833, for destitute children 
of New Haven under ten years, and there are accommoda- 
tions for one hundred and forty children. An effort is made to 



482 .A. History of Connecticut 

train the boys and girls for usefulness, and to secure homes 
for them at the age of twelve. The Mount Carmel Chil- 
dren's Home was opened in 1896, on a farm of sixteen acres, 
for children of Protestant families between the ages of four 
and twelve years, though younger children may be received, 
and about forty boys and girls can be cared for. The home 
is largely .supported by voluntary contributions, though the 
board of every child is paid as far as possible by its friends 
at the rate of two dollars a week. The Curtis Home at 
Meriden has accommodations for thirty children of that 
city, who are orphans and destitute, and are between the 
ages of two and ten years. Everything that can promote 
their well-being is furnished without charge, and the boys and 
girls are expected to attend the Episcopal Church. The 
Rock Nook Home of Norwich was established in 1882, by 
the United Workers' Society, and it receives children under 
twelve years to the number of thirty. This pleasant place 
is of the nature of a family, and supervision is maintained 
over those placed in homes until they are twenty-one. The 
Bridgeport Protestant Orphan Asylum was established in 
1868, in the Black Rock district, and it cares for seventy 
children. It is supported by private charity, though rela- 
tives pay fifty cents a week for each child if they are able. 
The Danbury Home for destitute children can accom- 
modate fifteen and gives the preference to the boys and 
girls of Danbury; when others are received, two dollars 
a week is paid. The Children's Home in Stamford was first 
opened in 1895, for boys and girls, but in 19 10, it was devoted 
to boys alone from four to fourteen years old; there is 
room for twenty-one inmates, who enjoy the life of a family, 
and attend either Catholic or Protestant churches. Friends 
who are able to do so pay from one to two dollars a week. 
The St. John's Church House in Stamford cares for girls, 
and can receive fourteen. The Gilbert Home at Winsted 
is finely situated on a farm of one hundred and twenty-five 
acres, and can accommodate two hundred and fifty children. 




8 w 




T3 -° 



+2 ^ 



w 



PKilantKropic Institutions 483 

It was liberally endowed by W. S. Gilbert, has five 
schoolrooms and appliances for manual and industrial train- 
ing. Children are received to board at one dollar a week 
from any part of the state, and nearly a hundred wards of 
the Litchfield County Home are there. There is an 
orphanage in Cromwell, which was opened in 1900, for 
Swedish children between three and twelve years, with 
accommodations for sixty-five boys and girls. The price for 
those who can pay is two dollars a week. The St. John's 
Industrial School at Deep River was dedicated by Bishop 
Tierney in 1908, and can accommodate more than one hun- 
dred boys. The customary ages are from eight to sixteen 
years. The St. Francis Orphan Asylum, New Haven, cares 
for destitute children of the Roman Catholic faith, and can 
accommodate five hundred boys and girls. Children under 
two are not received, and the usual charge is one hundred 
dollars a year for every child. About half of the inmates are 
from county homes. St. James's Asylum, Hartford, is 
devoted mainly to the care of children of the parish with 
which it is connected. There are also county temporary 
homes in the eight counties of the state, to which upwards 
of three hundred children are committed every year. Each 
home is under the charge of the three County Commissioners, 
a member of the State Board of Health, and a member of the 
State Board of Charities. Excellent results appear in 
school work, including industrial and manual training, and 
care is exercised in securing homes for the children, through 
town committees. Not only is provision made for children, 
but there are nineteen homes for old people, widows, and 
friendless; four in New Haven, five in Hartford, and others 
in New Britain, Fair Haven, Meriden, Waterbury, New 
London, Norwich, Middletown, Winsted and Bridgeport. 

The state makes large appropriations to hospitals, of 
which there are twenty-three general and eight for 
special diseases. One of the finest in the state is the 
Waterbury Hospital, completed by private benevolence at a 



484 -A. History of Connecticut 

cost of more than three hundred thousand dollars. Begin- 
ning with 1909, there has been a crusade against tuberculosis, 
and there are homes for the treatment of persons suffering 
from this disease in Meriden, Shelton, Hartford, Norwich, 
and Wallingford. Tuberculin is used in certain cases, but 
the staple dependence for the cure of patients is a combina- 
tion of rest, open air, and nourishing food. There are also 
institutions for nervous invalids at Cromwell and Greenwich ; 
the Sheltering Arms Hospital at Norwich is for patients 
needing homelike care. Besides these there are eleven 
private sanitaria for the treatment of mental or nervous 
diseases. About one-half of the patients in these institu- 
tions are there because of the use of alcohol or drugs. 

Our narrative of the work of Connecticut in philanthropy 
were not complete without the name of William Watson, who 
in 1828, was profoundly moved by an address by William 
Ladd, on universal peace. It was evidently this address 
that led to the formation of the Hartford County Peace 
Society, the prime mover and general agent of which was 
William Watson, whose store on Main Street, Hartford, 
became a repository of tracts and pamphlets relative to the 
peace movement. He took long trips through the state, 
made addresses, organized societies, and did everything in 
his power to awaken an interest in peace. In 1834, Watson 
began on his own responsibility the publication of the 
American Advocate of Peace, which was so well conducted 
that the national society adopted it as its organ. Some of 
the ablest men in Hartford were associated with Watson in 
the peace movement. 

Few other men have had a wider influence in philanthropy 
than Elihu Burritfc, who was born in New Britain in 18 10. 
With the scantiest opportunity in the public school, he 
carried on his studies while making tools at the forge, until 
he had become accomplished in mathematics and at length 
was able to read in fifty tongues. For twenty years he 
devoted himself to Penny Postage across the ocean, Arbitra- 



PKilantHropic Institutions 485 

tion and the Peace Movement. Mention should be made of 
long and tireless labors of James L. Cowles of Farmington 
in behalf of the Parcels Post, an endeavor which culminated 
in 1912, in the adoption of this boon. 

A significant fact to bear in mind is that philanthropy 
is a development of the nineteenth century. Poverty, hard 
times, heavy taxation, numerous wars, and the strain of new 
conditions were so severe, that it was not until the nineteenth 
century was well started that people began to look around in 
compassion on the unfortunates about them, and ask what 
could be done for the insane, blind, deaf, sick, paupers, and 
imbeciles. In the past hundred years, much thought and 
money have gone into philanthropic institutions, and the 
work has just begun. 



CHAPTER XXXV 
TEMPERANCE LEGISLATION 

THE treatment of the subjects considered in the three 
preceding chapters leads to an account of that which 
is a prominent cause of poverty, crime and mental disease, 
and the methods employed in the state to control it. Very 
early, the government of the colony was compelled to face 
questions occasioned by the use of intoxicants, and it is re- 
corded that in 1643, many complaints had been made of the 
sale of "wyne and strong water in vessels on the River, as 
in several howses — now without license." In 1647, a bill 
passed the legislature for the purpose of "preventing that 
great abuse, which is creeping in by excesses in Wyne and 
strong waters." It was ordered that "noe inhabitant shall 
continue in any comon victualing howse in the same towne 
where he liveth above half an hower att a time in drinking 
wyne, bear or hotte water; nor any one that selleth shall 
suffer more than three to a pynt of sacke; nor deliver, nor 
suffer to be delivered to any one outside the howse, unless 
they bring a note, — nor any to sell, except in moderation." 
This detailed and stringent law evidently did not accomplish 
that which was intended, and in 1654, the record tells us 
that notwithstanding previous orders, the"greate and cry- 
ing sinne of Drunkenness reigns amongst them, to the 
greate dishonor of God, and the hazard of the lives and peace 
of English and Indians." In view of this it was declared not 
lawful to "sell, lend, barter or give to any Indian, small or 

486 



Temperance Legislation 487 

greate" any strong waters, under penalty of five pounds for 
a pint, and twenty shillings for the least quantity. The 
license that was issued established a price on liquors; no 
one was allowed to sell for above five shillings a quart. 

In the code of 1650, it was ordered that "no licensed 
person shall sufer any to be drunken, or to drinke excessively, 
viz, above one-half pint of wyne for one person at one time, 
or continue tipling above half an hour, or at unseasonable 
times, or after nine at night, or in and about their howse, " 
under penalty of five shillings. A person found drunk was 
fined ten shillings; for continuing tippling above half an 
hour the penalty was two shillings sixpence; for drinking 
after nine in the evening, five shillings, and if the culprit 
could not pay he was to go to the "stocks for one houre or 
more; not to exceed three houres, if the weather permit." 
This of course did not include travelers, who were to be 
allowed to drink all they cared to buy, but the rulers 
saw the necessity of guarding the people against loafing 
about public houses, and also from perils of the drink-habit. 
A second offense called for a double fine and ten strokes 
of the lash for "excessive long drinking," with "three houres 
in the stocks, when the weather does not hazzard life and 
limbs." For the fourth offense, the offender was to be 
imprisoned until some one went surety for him. The first 
mention of rum was in an act passed in 1654, which ordered 
that none should "sell, barter, lend, giue or otherwise, under 
any plea; coller or pretence whatsoever, convey to any 
Indyan or Indyans, small or greate, any strong water or 
liquors" under penalty of five pounds for a pint. "It is 
also ordered, that whatsoever Berbados Liquors, commonly 
called Rum, Kill-Deuill, or the like, shall be landed in any 
place of this Jurisdictyon " should be confiscated. Murray's 
Dictionary says that in 1651, this liquor was made in Bar- 
bados from sugar-cane and was described as a "hott, hellish 
and terrible liquor, ' ' twice as strong as brandy. It was ordered 
in 1699, that no vintner, ordinary keeper or retailer of wine 



488 .A. History of Connecticut 

or strong drink should sell Madeira wine for more than eight- 
pence a pint, or Fayal wine for more than sixpence a pint, 
or rum for more than twopence a gill, or cider or strong 
beer for more than twopence a quart, under penalty of a 
fine of ten shillings; one-half to go to the complainer, the 
other half to the county. In 1703, an order was passed 
to suppress unlicensed houses selling "beer, ale, cyder, 
perry, metheglin wine, rum," and other liquors; also "har- 
boring and enterteining apprentices, Indians, negroes or 
other servants, idle and dissolute persons, tending to the 
ruination and impoverishment of families, and all vice, 
impieties and debaucheries." On second conviction, the 
culprit was to be whipped as many strokes as the judge saw 
fit — between ten and fifteen — and committed to prison until 
the stripes were given, or fine paid. No innkeeper, retailer 
or taverner was to suffer "men's sons, apprentices, or 
negroes to sitt drinking in his or her house, or have any 
manner of drinks there without special order from the 
master, " under penalty of a fine of ten shillings. No inhabi- 
tant was to be allowed to "sitt tipling" for more than an 
hour, unless he was a traveler, or had business, under 
penalty of ten shillings, "one moietie" for the informer, the 
other to the poor of the town. 

It appears that a good deal of trouble arose from the 
custom of letting the Indians have drink. In 1669, a fine 
was ordered, "on account of great abuse in selling Wyne, 
liquors and cyder to the Indians." In 1687, the General 
Court ordered that "every servant or slave, male or female, 
that shall supply any Indian with any sort of strong drincke 
contrary to law, they shall suffer corporall punishment for 
the same, according to the nature of the offence, — unless 
the master shall pay the fine." In May, 1676, a law was 
enacted requiring selectmen and constables "to take special 
care and notice of all ... persons frequenting public 
houses" where liquors were sold, "and spending their 
precious time there, and thereupon to require him or them to 



Temperance Legislation 489 

forbear such places." If, after the warning, they were 
found in such places, they were to forfeit five shillings for 
every conviction, or sit in the stocks for an hour. Select- 
men and constables were also to notify keepers of such 
houses of entertainment that they suffer no such person in 
their houses, upon penalty of twenty shillings for every such 
defect. The fines were to be paid to the county treasury. 
This was a license law to be paid on the installment plan. 
This act was not retained in the revision of 1702, and for 
over one hundred years, the only laws against intemperance 
as a cause of poverty were those imposing penalties for 
drunkenness. In 1694, since there was "excessive great 
abuse in this colony by those who presumptiously retayle 
strong drinke or liquers unto men who are poore, and not 
able to pay, without great prejudice to selves and famalyes, " 
it was enacted that whosoever should "sell strong drink 
under the quantity of an ancher in any plantations without 
license," should have no liberty or benefit of the law to 
recover debts. In 1695, since "excessive drinking in- 
creaseth" through multiplying licensed houses, and it had 
become the occasion of the growth of much disorder, a law 
was passed fining every unlicensed retailer forty shillings. 
All licenses were called in, and no one could obtain per- 
mission from the County Court to sell liquors, unless he first 
received liberty from the town where he proposed to open 
business. In 17 12, it was ordered that no one selling liquors 
could recover at law for drinks sold. 

Evidently the legislation did little good, for in 17 16, it 
was ordered that since the many acts to prevent unlicensed 
retailing had failed to reduce the evil, a fine of five pounds 
was to be the penalty for the first offense, ten pounds 
for the second, and that the penalty should be doubled for 
every succeeding offense. It was also ordered that the magis- 
trate should post at the door of every tavern the names of 
all who were under the ban because of their dissolute habits. 
In 1 719, the drink evil having increased to such an extent 



49° -A. History of Connecticut 

that there was a "great tendency to idleness and debauch- 
ery," since "many unfit to sell imposed on the County 
Courts, and public houses were multiplied," and many were 
selling without license, it was ordered that "the civil author- 
ity" in January of every year should nominate a person to 
keep and sell liquors, sending the name to the County Court, 
which should license him and no other. 

In 1723, a fine of five shillings was imposed on all who 
sold liquors on the evening after the Lord's day. About the 
same time a law was passed against smuggling liquors into 
the colony. In 1727, a penalty of three shillings a gallon 
was imposed upon all who distilled rum from molasses; 
this was due to the fear of shortage of molasses, and a few 
years later it was repealed. Despite the "ruination and 
debauchery" so closely connected with the traffic in liquors, 
" upon consideration of a memorial of the Reverend Trustees 
of Yale College," the General Assembly voted in 1727, to 
grant the "impost income for Rhum for a year, to be for 
use, benefit and support of the College." 

In 1755, the liquor problem was attacked from a different 
angle, and it was voted that persons who were licensed were 
compelled to give a bond that they would not sell less than a 
quart at a time, or suffer any to drink in the place of sale. 
It was also ordered that no unlicensed dealer could sell 
less than thirty gallons to one person at a time, and that the 
licensed retailer should pay a tax of fourpence on every 
gallon sold. Whether or not it was believed that liquors 
would give nerve to the army we do not know, but in 1777, 
the Assembly authorized the distillation of " Geneva or other 
spirit from wheat, rye or indian corn for use of the army or 
the inhabitants." 

In 1 82 1, a law was passed which empowered any two of 
the civil authority to admonish any person in town, who, 
they believed, was in danger through intemperance of being 
reduced to want, or was not caring for his family, and to for- 
bid all liquor dealers to sell or deliver to him any spirituous 



Temperance Legislation 491 

liquors, unless on a written license from them, specifying 
the quantity. If this proved ineffective, it was their duty 
to have his name posted on the sign-posts in the town by 
a signed certificate, forbidding any one to furnish him 
with liquor. There was a fine of seven dollars for this 
offense, and if the offender held a license, the civil 
authority was to revoke it. This law dropped out in the 
revision of 1866, and in the revision of 1875, it was ordered 
that any one could complain to the selectmen that his 
"father, mother, husband, wife, or child" was "addicted 
to the use of intoxicating liquor," and request in writing 
that the licensed liquor dealers be notified not to furnish 
liquor in any way to the one complained of. It was their 
duty at once to give such notice. A violation of the notice 
meant a revocation of the license. For selling to a minor, 
to an intoxicated person, to one known to be an habitual 
drunkard, or to a husband or a wife against a notice from the 
other, there was a fine of not less than twenty dollars or 
more than fifty dollars. 

Efforts were making for the institutional treatment of 
drunkards. In 1868, charters were granted to two corpora- 
tions for the care of inebriates. One was Turner's Dipso- 
maniac Retreat, to be located at Wilton, Fairfield County. 
Among the incorporators of the other, the Connecticut 
Invalid Home, were Leonard Bacon, Noah Porter and Henry 
Ward Beecher. In 1874, tne Connecticut Reformatory 
Home, known later as the Asylum at Walnut Hill, was 
incorporated. Persons might be committed who were 
habitual drunkards, or had lost their self-control by the use 
of stimulants or narcotics. The Court of Probate might 
investigate their cases upon the application of the majority 
of the selectmen or of any relative. There was to be no 
commitment, except on the recommendation under oath of at 
least two practicing physicians, after a personal examination. 
An habitual drunkard might be committed for not less than 
four or more than twelve months, and a dipsomaniac for three 



49 2 -A History of Connecticut 

years, though the latter might go at large after one year, 
under counsel of the manager. Asylums were also allowed 
to receive such as personally applied, and the estates of 
patients were liable for their support. By an act of 1887, 
selectmen were required, at least as often as every six months, 
to prepare a list of persons known to use intoxicating 
liquors, — people who had received town aid within the pre- 
vious six months, and lodge a copy with every dealer, 
forbidding the delivery of any liquor, including cider, to 
such persons, except upon a physician's certificate. 

During the past hundred years the temperance question 
has had a varying fortune, according to local conditions and 
passing waves of interest. In 1823, the law of an earlier 
time was reaffirmed, whereby it was ordered that two men 
in civil authority could post a man, as one to whom no 
retailer was to sell liquors, at risk of having his license re- 
voked. In 1838, a law was passed that no one who was not 
the keeper of a tavern was to sell liquors to drink on the 
premises. In 1849, a law was passed forbidding the sale of 
liquors to minors; tippling was also treated as an offense, 
which cost the retailer a dollar for every tippler to whom he 
sold liquor, and it was voted that only licensed places of 
entertainment should be allowed to sell metheglin or mead, 
wine, brandy or gin to drink on the premises, under penalty 
of twenty dollars for the first offense, and double for every 
succeeding violation ; evidently the lawmakers were screwing 
their consciences to the sticking-point, for we learn that in 
1854, a l aw was passed which was substantially the famous 
Maine Law transplanted. According to this law, no person 
was allowed to manufacture or sell any spirituous liquors, 
including ale, porter, lager beer, cider and all wines. This 
did not prohibit the importation of liquors under the authority 
of the United States. The penalty was twenty dollars for 
the first offense ; thirty for the second ; one hundred dollars 
and three to six months in jail for the third. Every one who 
should be found intoxicated should be fined seven dollars. 



Temperance Legislation 493 

Provision was made for a town agent, appointed by the 
selectmen, to sell liquors for "sacramental, medicinal and 
mechanical uses only." During the first years of the 
"Maine Law" in Connecticut the enforcement was some- 
what strict, and in 1855, the Windham County jail was 
said to be without a tenant, "and was advertized to rent," 
but later, after the excitements of the Civil War became 
acute, and in the demoralizing influences following the war, 
the law, which had never met with favor in the cities, passed 
into such disrepute that a thoroughgoing license law was 
passed. 

In 1872-74, it was voted by the Assembly that the 
county commissioners, on the recommendation of the 
selectmen, were to give license to "suitable persons" to 
sell intoxicating drinks, and to pay a license fee of from one 
hundred to five hundred dollars. Every town also had the 
privilege of voting for a less radical prohibition law. It 
could vote to sell only ale, lager, and Rhine wine, and the 
fee was fifty dollars. In 1882, the law was revised to re- 
quire endorsement of five local taxpayers, and five hundred 
dollars was made the minimum license fee. In 1893, the 
law was changed to admit of an appeal from the commis- 
sioners to the Superior Court. The principle prevailing 
in 1 9 14, is the Local Option law, which permits towns to 
have what they choose: prohibition, or saloons licensed by 
the county commissioners. Half of the towns and nearly 
all of the cities choose the licensed saloon. One of the 
most valuable and hopeful laws recently passed is that 
requiring that there shall be temperance instruction in the 
public schools. 

As the laws stand in 1914, the seller of intoxicating liquor 
is made liable to one whose person or property is injured 
by any person to whom such sale was made, and who 
was made intoxicated thereby, and committed the injury 
while so intoxicated. A husband, wife, parent, child, 
guardian or employer of a person in the habit of drinking 



494 -A. History of Connecticut 

to excess may notify a dealer not to sell or deliver liquor to 
such a person, or allow him to loiter on his premises, and 
any violation of the request within a year renders the dealer 
liable to damages. Whenever a town has voted against 
license, a delivery within the town is deemed a sale. Con- 
tracts, liens, conveyances, and attachments, any part of the 
consideration of which is the illegal sale of liquors, are void. 
No spirituous liquors shall be sold or given away in any 
building under the control of the state. No one can sell 
liquors at an agricultural fair, or within a thousand feet of 
one. Druggists may sell liquors upon the prescription of a 
physician, but not to drink on the premises. The selectmen 
of any town must, at least semi-annually, prepare a list of 
persons known to use liquors, to whom town aid has been 
furnished within six months, and lodge such a list with 
every person licensed to sell liquors in the town; for- 
bidding the sale, gift, or delivery of liquors, including cider, 
to such persons, except on prescription of a physician. 
All intoxicating liquors, intended for sale contrary to law, 
are declared to be a nuisance. Any justice of the peace, 
or any court, upon the sworn complaint of a prosecuting 
agent, or of any two legal voters of the town, alleging 
that intoxicating liquors are within reasonable certainty 
kept within any place contrary to law, may issue a search- 
warrant, and seize such liquor. In no-license towns the 
selectmen must appoint agents to deal in liquors for sacra- 
mental, medicinal, chemical and mechanical uses only, and 
under directions given in writing. A licensed person who 
delivers to a minor, or an intoxicated person, or a husband 
or wife, to whom he has been notified not to sell, or to an 
habitual drunkard, after receiving notice from the select- 
men, or allows a minor to loiter about the premises, is liable 
to a fine or imprisonment. The hours between eleven at 
night and five in the morning are immune from the sale of 
liquors, as is also every election day, except to guests at a 
hotel. No one is allowed to sell liquors between twelve 



Temperance Legislation 495 

Saturday night and the same hour Sunday night. No prem- 
ises where liquors are sold shall be obstructed by curtains 
or screens. Efforts to limit still further the saloons in both 
numbers and influence have accomplished little, especially 
in the larger towns. The action of railroads and other large 
corporations in refusing to employ men known to be drinkers 
carries weight, and many organizations, Catholic and 
Protestant, both among men and women, have been influen- 
tial in shaping opinion, and in giving a more accurate and 
widespread knowledge of the effects of intoxicants. The 
public schools have been especially effective in advancing 
a cause which the lawmakers, almost from the beginning, 
have ingeniously and patiently sought to promote. 



CHAPTER XXXVI 
LITERATURE 

A STATE settled by people of such intelligence and mental 
vigor would be expected to develop a literature of 
interest and variety, and such is the case. The pioneers 
were so busy getting the better of forests, wolves and Indians 
that they had little time for anything else than the homely 
prose of daily life, and the early writers were almost entirely 
confined to ministers, whose robust theology and vivid 
picturing of the underworld were scarcely surpassed in 
eloquence by their pictures of the glories of heaven. Jona- 
than Edwards, who was born in South Windsor in 1703, 
might have excelled in literature had he turned his powerful 
intellect and venturesome imagination to lighter subjects 
than the human will, the glories of redemption and God's 
anger toward the wayward. For evident reasons, the young 
people were not fed from earliest years on Shakespeare, and 
the hymns of the churches were apt to be too solemn and 
doleful to awaken the muse of poetry in their souls. New 
Englanders were preeminently practical, and their minds 
were apt to move along lines similar to that of Sylvester 
Graham, who was born in Suffield in 1794. He wrote the 
famous Graham Lectures on the Science of Human Life, and 
Bread and Bread-making, associating his name more with 
unbolted flour than with literature. 

One of the earliest writers was Roger Wolcott, born in 
Windsor, 1679, who took part in the campaign of 171 1, 

496 



Literature 497 

against Canada, and was second in command, leading the 
Connecticut contingent in the expedition which captured 
Louisburg in 1745. He published in 1725, Poetical Medita- 
tions, being the Improvement of some Vacant Hours. It 
was issued in New London, and he dedicated to Timothy 
Edwards the "broken numbers," modestly asking 

Whether they shall be kill'd or sav'd alive. 

In his Meditations on Man's First or Fallen Estate and the 
Love of God, we have the following : 

Once did I view a fragrant Flower fair, 
Till through the optick window of mine eye, 
The sweet discovery of its beauties rare 
Did much affect and charm my fantasie, 
To see how bright and sweetly it did shine 
In beauties that were purely genuine. 
This flower collects the "Nutrimental juice," 
That's of the earth it did monopolize 
The same to its own benefit and use, 
Also the benediction of the skies. 

After the custom of his time he caught another vision which 
was less agreeable. 

I see 
Hell's flashes folding through eternitie; 
And hear damned Company that there remain, 
For very Anguish gnaw their Tongues in twain. 

He also published an epic on War with the Pequots, a 
fair sample of which we find in the lines : 

Here we are strangers, and if we are beat, 
We have no Place for Safety or Retreat. 

The poetry of the time was largely political. Here is the 
first of a dozen stanzas to be sung to a familiar hymn-tune, 
to describe a Democratic meeting: 
32 



49^ .A. History of Connecticut 

Ye tribes of faction join — 

Your daughters and your wives; 
Moll Cary's come to dine, 
And dance with Deacon Ives. 
Ye ragged throng 
Of Democrats, 
As thick as rats, 
Come join the song. . 

An influential element in the life of Connecticut after the 
Revolution was the group of nine men known as the "Hart- 
ford Wits." Though independence was won, anarchy 
threatened, and government, commerce and finance were 
unstable. The "Wits" were a band of young graduates 
of Yale, who, while connected with the college as students 
for the master's degree or tutors, formed a school for the 
cultivation of letters, and did much to liberalize the scholas- 
tic curriculum of Yale. They also proposed to furnish the 
young republic with poetry suitable for so glorious a country. 
A few years later, they found themselves for a few years 
together in Hartford and vicinity, and they took upon 
themselves the task of resisting with satire the influences 
which were working toward lawlessness. 

The members of the major list were John Trumbull, 
Timothy Dwight, Joel Barlow and David Humphreys. 
The associates were Theodore Dwight, Richard Alsop and 
the three physicians, Elihu Smith, Mason Cogswell and 
Lemuel Hopkins. These were able men, and in their 
number we find a judge of the Connecticut Supreme Court, 
a college president, foreign ministers and ambassadors, a dis- 
tinguished physician and an officer in the Revolutionary army. 
The first publication of the Wits was a group of twelve 
satiric papers, forming the Anarchiad. These were published 
in the New Haven Gazette, beginning October 26, 1786, and 
they were copied into other Federalist journals. They were 
first issued in book form in 1861 . The papers were unsigned, 
but Trumbull, Humphreys, Barlow and Hopkins are sup- 



Literature 499 

posed to be the authors, who wished to expose the folly of 
the warfare waged against the stability of the nation by 
the promoters of local rebellion, paper money and selfish 
greed. Shays's Rebellion was a brilliant example of anarchy, 
and a sample of the verses in the Anarchiad follows: 

Thy constitution, chaos is restored, 

Law sinks before thy uncreating word, 

Thy hand unbars th' unfathomed gulf of fate, 

And deep in darkness whelms the new-born State. 

The Echo was a continuation of the Anarchiad, and was 
devoted to the task of riddling political evils and exploit- 
ing the perils of democracy. It also caricatured the excesses 
of literary style in the publications of the time. The first 
Echo appeared August 8, 1791, in the American Mercury, 
and was a parody on a florid account in a Boston paper of a 
heavy rain. 

Uncorking demi-johns, and pouring down 

Heaven's liquid blessings on the gasping town. 

There is little literary merit in these writings. They are 
largely political and temporary, yet they reflect strong, 
unique, earnest personalities, eager to bear a part in the 
development of an upright America. There was a good 
deal of mutual admiration among the Wits, and occasional 
attacks of vanity, speculation and vacillation. Lemuel 
Hopkins was the keenest mind, a physician who depised 
quacks, as appears from a poem entitled A Patient killed by 
a Cancer Quack, in which is the following: 

Here lies a fool, flat on his back, 
The victim of a cancer quack, 
Who lost his money and his life, 
By plaister, caustic and the knife. 

Hopkins had a similar feeling toward another class as ap- 
pears from his The Hypocrite 's Hope: 



500 A History of Connecticut 

Two tones like Pharisee sublime, 
Two lengthy prayers a day, 
The same that he from early prime 
Hath heard his father say. 

Good works he careth naught about, 
But faith alone will seek, 
While Sunday's pieties blot out 
The knaveries of the week. 

There was much shrewd insight in the work of these 
men, the "Pleiades of Connecticut," as they were called. 
They mirror the aspirations and fears of thoughtful peo- 
ple in the period following the Revolution, and no doubt 
they had some influence in forming public opinion while 
government was forming. It is interesting to know that 
while "rhymed politics burdened the weekly papers," and 
the "muse was harnessed to the political chariot" in the 
Anarchiad and the Echo, three epics almost as long as 
the Iliad appeared, inspired by thoughts of a state where 

Great Nature, with a bolder hand, 
Rolled the broad stream and heaved the lifted land. 

In 1785, Timothy Dwight issued The Conquest of Canaan, 
an epic in twelve books, which is read as often as his five 
volumes of theology. His hymn, "I love thy Kingdom, 
Lord," will never grow old, but his war song, "Columbia, 
Columbia, in glory arise," once admired, is now forgotten. 
Dwight was a decided force in the community, by his ser- 
mons, addresses and personal influence on young men, and 
his four volumes of Travels in New England and New York 
are full of valuable observation and entertainment. 

Trumbull was the satirist of the company, and of his 
masterpiece, McFingal, a Modern Epic, we read that "no 
American poem ever had such immense and immediate 
popularity." This imitation of Hudibras reflects in carica- 
ture the stormy town meetings, liberty poles, bonfires and 



Literature 501 

tar-and-feathering of Tories of those turbulent times. It 
contains a few keen lines usually attributed to Hudibras, 
such as: 

No man e'er felt the halter draw 

With good opinion of the law. 

We get an idea of the sing-song rhyme so popular in those 
days from the following: 

When Yankees, skill'd in martial rule, 
First put the British troops to School; 
Instructed them in warlike trade, 
And new mancevers of parade. 

The grandest endeavor of these epic poets was that of Joel 
Barlow, a versatile man, whose most ambitious undertak- 
ing was The Vision of Columbus. As published in Hartford 
in 1787, it was a cheap affair, and much later it was issued 
in Philadelphia in a sumptuous edition. This was the most 
magnificent work ever attempted in America up to that 
time. He says that Hesper appeared to Columbus in prison, 
and led him to a hill, whence he saw America, and also the 
unrolling of history. The opening lines are as follows: 

I sing the mariner who first unfurled 
An eastern banner o'er the western world, 
And taught mankind where future empires lay 
In these fair confines of descending day. 

He saw the Connecticut River: 

Thy stream, my Hartford, through its misty robe, 
Played in the sunbeams, belting far the globe. 

Speaking of towns fired by the British he sings: 

Norwalk expands the blaze; o'er Redding hills 
High flaming Danbury the welkin fills. 

Barlow's best poem is Hasty Pudding, one couplet of which 
wears well: 



502 A History of Connecticut 

E'en in thy native regions how I blush 

To hear the Pennsylvanians call thee mush! 

Closely connected with the " Pleiades" was Dr. Elihu H. 
Smith of Wethersfield, who published in 1783, our first 
poetic miscellany, entitled, American Poems, Original and 
Selected. 

Another writer of Connecticut was Jared Sparks, who 
was born at "Wellington, just after the Revolution. His 
Life and Writings of Washington and American Biographies 
have furnished copious accounts of eminent men. Fitz- 
Greene Halleck, who was born in Guilford in 1790, wrote some 
of the best poetry of his time. A good example of his style 
is the poem entitled On a Portrait of Red Jacket, in which 
he praises the "monarch mind": 

Thou hast it. At thy bidding, men have crowded 
The road to death as to a festival. 

His Marco Bozzaris has thrilled many a schoolboy with its 

Strike till the last armed foe expires. 

His best poems are Alnwick Castle, Burns, and the verses 
on the death of his friend Drake, opening with the lines: 

Green be the turf above thee, 

Friend of my better days; 

None knew thee but to love thee, 
None named thee but to praise. 

There was born in Kensington in 1795, a poet-geologist, 
James G. Percival, who was about equally eminent in poetry, 
geology, botany, chemistry and mathematics. Clio, Pro- 
metheus and The Coral Grove are titles of three of the poems 
of this eccentric poet. The following lines from the opening 
of The Coral Grove may suggest the flavor of this poet : 




X 



o 





Literature 503 

Deep in the wave is the coral grove, 

Where the purple Mullet and Gold fish rove, 

Where the Sea-flower spreads its leaves of blue, 

That never are wet with falling dew. 

But in bright and changeful beauty shine, 

Far down in the green and glassy brine. 

A classmate of Percival's was the more gifted poet, John 
G. C. Brainard, who was born in New London and lived 
for years in Hartford, where he edited the Mirror, and wrote 
many poems, until his gifted career was cut short by death. 
Some of these poems breathe the spirit of his native state, 
such as The Black Fox of Salmon River, The Shad Spirit, 
Fort Griswold and The Sea-Bird's Song. There is music 
in the lines : 

On the deep is the mariner's danger, 
On the deep is the mariner's death. 

The dead leaves strew the forest walk, 
And withered are the pale wild flowers; 
The frost hangs blackening on the stalk, 
The dewdrops fall in frozen showers. 

The works of Jedediah Morse in geography, Thomas 
Hubbard and Nathan Daboll in arithmetic, Noah Webster 
in the speller and dictionary, and Jesse Olney in atlas-geog- 
raphy have been described in the chapter on Education. In 
1827, Frederick Butler of Wethersfield issued a compendium 
of general history, the first work of the kind in America. 

One of the poets of the anti-slavery movement was John 
Pierpont, who was born in Litchfield in 1785. A lawyer, a 
minister and a business man, it is as the author of some 
vigorous poetry that used to be declaimed by schoolboys that 
he is best known now. Warren's Address at Bunker Hill, 

Stand! the ground 's your own, my braves! 
Will ye give it up to slaves? 



504 -A. History of Connecticut 

has often furnished an avenue for patriotic eloquence. Of a 
different type was Mrs. Emma Hart Willard, referred to 
in the chapter on Education. This gifted woman was the 
daughter of Samuel Hart of Berlin, where she was born in 
1787. Her literary work was largely in school books, which 
were widely used in America and were translated into many 
languages. The Woodridge and Willard Geographies and 
Atlases, History of the United States and Astronomy were 
once popular. She was the author of many poems, of which 
the one that is best known is probably " Rocked in the 
cradle of the deep. " 

There was born in Norwich in 1791, a writer of prose and 
verse of decided industry and copiousness, Mrs. Lydia H. 
Sigourney, who produced fifty-nine volumes, besides many 
articles for magazines. The nature of her works is sug- 
gested by the titles — Weeping Willow, Whispers to a Bride 
and Letters to Young Ladies. She was one of the writers 
who would say "parapet" when she meant "stone wall," 
"couch" for "bed," "casement" for "window," "tome" 
for "book," and "sandal" for "shoe." She was such an 
expert in writing obituaries, that there were those who 
prayed to outlive her. In 1793, Samuel G. Goodrich was 
born in Ridgefield; he established himself in Hartford and 
later in Boston, under the name of Peter Parley, and issued 
a large number of instructive and entertaining books for 
the young. He published Merry's Museum and Parley's 
Magazine, besides The Outcast and Other Poems and Recol- 
lections of a Lifetime. 

Although many of the Connecticut peddlers made money 
by their enterprise there was one who did something else, 
and this was Amos Bronson Alcott, who was born in Wolcott, 
in 1799. While a youth he was sent to Virginia with a trunk 
of merchandise, but having little taste for trade, he sold 
his goods for five dollars, and in 1823, opened a school at 
Norfolk, Virginia, introducing some original methods of 
teaching children. In 1828, he started a similar enterprise, 



'JKw& 







Dr. Horace Bushnell (1802-1876) 



Literature 505 

but finding himself in advance of his times he settled in 
Concord, where he became well known as a thinker and 
lecturer, in daily fellowship with Emerson, Thoreau and 
Hawthorne, and was recognized as the dean of the Concord 
School of Philosophy. Carlyle described him as "the good 
Alcott, with his long lean face and figure, with his grave, 
worn temples and mild, radiant eyes; all bent on saving the 
world by a return to acorns and the golden age." Among 
his published works are Concord Days, New Connecticut, 
Ralph W. Emerson and Sonnets and Canzonets. Another 
Connecticut man who reached distinction in another state 
was George D. Prentice, who was born in Preston in 1802. 
In 1825, he became editor of the Connecticut Mirror, and 
three years later, he took charge of the New England 
Weekly Review. In 1831, Prentice became editor of the 
famous Whig newspaper, the Louisville Journal, and soon 
he was widely known for his wit, satire and political ability. 
He stood fast by the Union cause in 1861, and later was 
connected with the Courier-Journal. Among his books is a 
Life of Henry Clay. One of the most influential of American 
writers was Horace Bushnell, who was born in Litchfield 
in 1802, a man of remarkable insight into the deep truths 
of religion, and as seen in another chapter, he holds a high 
place among the original and constructive thinkers in the- 
ology. So felicitous was he in expression, that whatever 
subject he treated, whether it was New England customs or 
the personality of Christ, it became a thing of life. In 1833, 
he became pastor of the North Church of Hartford, an 
interpreter of God and the world of singular power and 
inspiration, a writer in the front rank. His most dis- 
tinguished works are Christian Nurture, Nature and the 
Supernatural, God in Christ and Christ in Theology. The 
next author to come into view is the gifted Harriet Beecher 
Stowe, born in Litchfield in 181 1, daughter of the famous 
Lyman Beecher, a powerful preacher, masterful personality, 
and pioneer in a more genial theology. Mrs. Stowe, while 



506 .A. History of Connecticut 

in her father's home in Cincinnati, obtained such a 
view of slavery that years later she wrote Uncle Tom's 
Cabin. This book first appeared in the National Era, in 
Washington, and it sprang at once into a popularity 
unsurpassed by any other book ever published in 
America. It has been translated into twenty languages; 
published in thirteen German, four French and fifty 
English editions. It has been dramatized, abridged, 
arranged for children, and was a powerful means of pre- 
paring for freeing the slaves. Mrs. Stowe wrote many 
other works, such as Old-town Folks, Minister's Wooing 
and Religious Poems. As two Southerners went out of 
a theater in New York, after seeing Uncle Tom's Cabin, 
one said, "Will, that's what licked us." Another of 
Lyman Beecher's children was Henry Ward, who was 
born in Litchfield in 1813, became one of the most powerful 
preachers of the centuries, and a lecturer of marvelous 
effectiveness. His five great addresses in England in 1863, 
turned the tide of English opinion against the slave-power, 
and produced a result "unparalleled in modern oratory." 
Most of his writings are sermons, but so genial, so natural, 
so sympathetic are they; so rich in human nature, so 
fragrant with the aroma of forest and meadow; so deep 
and tender in their unfoldings of the love of God, that 
they stand in the front ranks of the inspiring works of 
his day. 

Though born in Providence, in 1820, the name of Henry 
Howard Brownell belongs in Connecticut, since he spent 
most of his life in East Hartford. Brownell had unusual 
opportunities to be imbued with the spirit of the Civil War, 
for Farragut, impressed by his General Orders, invited him 
to join the fleet and see a naval battle. He was appointed 
ensign on the flagship Hartford, was present at the battle 
of Mobile Bay, and his poem Bay Fight is the result of 
the exciting experience. The poem breathes the thunder 
of struggle: 




Harriet Beecher Stowe( 1811-1896) 



Literature 507 

"Man your starboard battery!" 

Kimberly shouted — 
The ship with her heart of oak 
Was going mid roar and smoke 

On to victory. 
None of us doubted, 
No, not our dying — 
Farragut's flag was flying. 

How vividly he describes the battle! 

Trust me, our berth was hot, 
Ah, wickedly well they shot, 
How their death-bolts bowled and stung. 

Another famous poem of Brownell's is the River Fight, and 
he wrote others, some of which are lyrics of a high order. 
His Words that can be Sung, reminds us vividly of a 
famous song of the war: 

Old John Brown lies a mouldering in the grave, 
Old John Brown lies aslumbering in his grave, 
But John Brown's soul is marching with the brave, 
His soul is marching on. 

Glory, glory Hallelujah. 

Holmes calls Brownell our "Battle Laureate," and says 
of his war poems, "They are, to all the drawing room battle- 
poems, as the torn flags of our victorious armadas to the 
stately ensigns that dressed their ships in the harbor." In 
the same class was Henry Clay Work, who was born in 
Middletown in 1832, and had some fame as a song- writer. 
His Marching through Georgia, composed after the war, 
Kingdom Coming, Grandfather's Clock and Father, dear 
Father, Come Home with me Now have been widely sung. 
Donald G. Mitchell, known to the world as " Ik Marvel," 
was born in Norwich in 1822, graduated at Yale, and 
spent most of his life in the neighborhood of New Haven. 



508 A. History of Connecticut 

Among his many books, fragrant with delicate fancies, love 
of nature and cheerfulness, are My Farm of Edgewood, Rev- 
eries of a Bachelor and American Lands and Letters. Rose 
Terry Cooke was born in West Hartford in 1827; soon 
after her graduation from the Hartford Female Seminary, 
she began to publish poems and sketches, and continued 
through many years of married life, until she became a 
favorite writer through New England. She vividly por- 
trayed the plain life of New England, and Whittier said 
that in her dialect stories of the Yankees she had no equal. 
Happy Dodd and The Sphinx's Children are among her books 
of fiction. 

Theodore Winthrop was born in New Haven in 1828, 
was admitted to the bar, but occupied himself largely with 
writing novels until the Civil War broke out, when he 
enlisted in the New York Seventh, and was killed at Great 
Bethel. After his death, his books, among the first to deal 
with western themes, were published. They were Cecil 
Dreeme, John Brent and Edwin Brothertoft. These and 
some sketches have been popular. 

Charles Dudley Warner was born in Plainfield, Massa- 
chusetts, in 1829, but the influence he exerted in Connecticut 
for forty years leads us to count him in among the writers 
of this state. For years he was editor of the Hartford Press 
and the Hartford Courant, and in these papers, as well as 
his books, the fine literary quality, humorous and cheerful 
note have given this gifted author a high place. Among his 
many works are My Summer in a Garden, Back-log Studies, 
The Golden House, and in collaboration with S. L. Clemens, 
The Gilded Age. In Windham County, between 1830, and 
1840, within a few miles of one another, there appeared three 
women whose writings have been a joy to many: Theron 
Brown, born in Windham in 1832; Emily Huntington Miller, 
born in Brooklyn in 1833, and Louise C. Moulton, born in 
Pomfret in 1835. The songs and lyrics of the last named 
called forth from Whittier the statement, "It seems to me 




Charles Dudley Warner (1829-1900) 

From a Photo by Horace Bundy, Hartford, Conn. 



Literature 509 

the sonnet was never set to such music, and never weighted 
with more deep and tender feeling." 

The poet-banker, Edmund C. Stedman, was born in 
Hartford in 1833. His seat in the New York Stock Ex- 
change and activity as a broker until 1900, did not prevent 
his writing poetry of a high order. Some of his ballads are 
of decided value, and many of his lyrics are beautiful. 
After the death of Holmes, he occupied the leading place 
among the poets of his time. His writings in literary 
criticism are scholarly and valuable. Samuel L. Clemens 
(Mark Twain) was thirty-six years old when, in 1871, he 
made Hartford his home. The qualities which have given 
him a wide popularity are humor, satire and a matter-of- 
fact seriousness, together with sympathy with plain people. 
Prominent among his works are Adventures of Tom Sawyer, 
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Joan of Arc 
and Innocents Abroad. Clemens was a vital force in 
the literary life of Connecticut, not only by his writings, 
but also by his striking personality and picturesque gifts 
as a lecturer. His work endures. 

Mention should be made of Edward Rowland Sill, a 
man of much ability and poetic taste, who was born in 
Windsor in 1841. His lyrics are melodious and his prose 
works reveal a vigorous grasp and a deep insight. Sill was 
a man peculiarly sensitive to the willfulness of fortune — 
the disappointments and misunderstandings which he met. 
The Fool's Prayer is a sample of the keen thought of this 
gifted mind. We catch the movement in the lines: 

The ill-timed truth we might have kept — 
Who knows how sharp it pierced and stung? 

The word we had not sense to say — 
Who knows how grandly it had rung? 

John Fiske was born in Hartford in 1842, became 
a lecturer on philosophy at Harvard, and a prolific writer 



510 .A History of Connecticut 

on history and philosophy. He was a writer of signal 
industry, clearness and skill, and was able to group facts 
and marshal events with remarkable success. He did much 
to interpret American history, and also to illuminate and 
popularize the theory of evolution. Some of the dis- 
tinguished scholars to whom reference has been made in 
the chapter on Colleges deserve a place in the literary history 
of the state. One of the earliest of these was Benjamin 
Silliman, who was born in Trumbull in 1779, and became 
eminent as discoverer, lecturer and writer in natural science; 
he established the American Journal of Science, and for 
twenty years was its chief editor. His son, Benjamin Silli- 
man, Jr., was born in New Haven in 1816, and was also 
editor of the same journal, and author of works on chemistry 
and physics. Moses Stuart was born in Wilton in 1780, 
and became a distinguished scholar and writer in the field 
of the Hebrew language and literature; he was the first to 
introduce German methods of scholarship into this country. 
There was born in Southington in 1794, Edward Robin- 
son, destined to become distinguished as teacher and author. 
His works on New Testament Greek, including lexicon, 
grammar and harmony, are of the finest scholarship. His 
Biblical Researches did most to give him an enduring fame, 
not only because of their accuracy and fullness, but also 
because the first real impulse toward the scientific exami- 
nation of the Holy Land was due to him. James Dwight 
Dana was born in Uticain 1813, and was so vitally connected 
with the scientific life of Connecticut that we cannot fail 
to mention the fact that he was editor of the American 
Journal of Science, and author of many works on mineralogy 
and geology. Thomas R. Pynchon was born in New Haven 
in 1823, and became distinguished in chemistry, publishing 
a treatise in that branch of science. William Dwight 
Whitney was born in Northampton in 1827, and studied Sans- 
krit at Yale with Professor Salisbury, whom he succeeded in 
1854. His works in Sanskrit and comparative philology 




Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain) (1835-1910) 

From a Portrait taken in 1880. (Courtesy of Messrs. Harper & Brother) 



Literature 511 

are many and very able. James Hadley was born in Fair- 
field, New York, in 1821, and during his long service at 
Yale he was the author of works of learning on the Greek 
and English languages. Theodore D. Woolsey was born in 
New York in 1801, and while connected with the Yale 
faculty as professor and president, he published many works, 
which range from Greek literature to international law and 
political ethics. Professor Othniel C. Marsh, for more than 
thirty years connected with the Yale faculty, has published 
many works on palaeontology, which are of the highest value. 
Parallel with him was Professor William G. Sumner, 
whose superb work in the class room was matched by such 
works as the History of American Currency and History oj 
American Banking. 

As we have noticed elsewhere, Connecticut has always 
been strong in theology. There have been many eminent 
men who were born in this colony and state, and others came 
hither. Some of these writers are regarded now with rather 
less interest than the skeleton of a mastodon in the Pea- 
body Museum, while others wrought with genius and power. 
There were Hopkins, Edwards, Bellamy, Emmons, Dwight 
and West, most distinguished of whom was Samuel Hopkins, 
who was born in Waterbury in 1721, becoming a profound 
thinker and powerful writer, though his style was not happy. 
He is remembered for his theological system, called the " Hop- 
kinsian, " a very stern system, and also for advanced and 
benevolent views on the subject of African slavery. Newport, 
where he preached, was the principal slave-mart of New Eng- 
land, and the course taken by the independent minister 
brought upon him persecution. In 1766, he published his 
noted Dialogue concerning the Slavery of the Africans together 
with his Address to Slaveholders. He also published numer- 
ous essays against slavery in the newspapers of Newport, 
Providence, Boston and Hartford. Jonathan Edwards, the 
younger, was a son of the great minister of Northampton, 
where he was born in 1745. He received his training with 



512 .A History of Connecticut 

Joseph Bellamy of Bethlehem and for twenty-six years 
was pastor in New Haven. His theological writings are 
marked by acuteness of mind and precision of style, — found- 
ation stones in the famous "New England Theology." He 
is remembered also as the author of a work which he pub- 
lished in 1788, which established his fame as a philologist. 
The work is entitled Observations on the Language of the Muh- 
hekaneew Indians, in which the Extent of that Language in North 
America is Shown. When he was a boy in Stockbridge, the 
Indians were his nearest neighbors, and their language 
became as familiar as the English; even his thoughts ran 
in Indian. This work on the Indian language was recognized 
in Europe as of highest value for accuracy and compre- 
hensiveness, since he had an unparalleled knowledge of the 
grammatical and other learning which qualified him to 
reduce an unwritten language to the rules of grammar. 
Timothy Dwight, the author of poems noticed earlier in 
this chapter, published in 1822, four volumes of Travels in 
New England, which form a rich storehouse of knowledge 
upon the customs and life at the opening of the nineteenth 
century. His sermons published in 18 18, under the title 
of Theology Explained and Defended, attained great popu- 
larity in this country and England. A worthy successor of 
Dwight was Nathanael W. Taylor, who was born in New 
Milford in 1786, and as a thinker and author in the New 
Haven Theology he had a powerful influence. This name 
calls to mind that of Bennet Tyler, who was born in Middle- 
bury in 1783, and as the first president of what is now the 
Hartford Theological Seminary, and as a defender of the 
older Calvinism, as opposed to Tyler at Yale, he was long a 
positive force in the thought of the day. 

Connecticut has also been influential in legal writings, 
and the first to be mentioned is Tapping Reeve, who es- 
tablished his famous law school in Litchfield in 1784, whose 
writings relate to laws of property of married women, also 
of parent and child, guardian and servant and descents. 



Literature 513 

The Field family is famous for legal authorship. The father 
of the ten children, so many of whom are widely known, was 
the Rev. David Dudley Field, who was born in North Guilford, 
and the sons, David Dudley and Steven Johnson, were born 
in Haddam. David Dudley Field, Jr., gave his life to the re- 
form of law, for which, according to Lord Cairns, Chancellor 
of England, he did " more than any man living." After pub- 
lishing his Codes of Civil and Criminal Procedure in 1850, he 
went on to prepare a political, civil and criminal code to cover 
all American law. He rewrote the code of New York eighteen 
times. His System of Practice was adopted in the courts of 
India, Singapore and Hong Kong. He proposed in 1866, a 
committee of jurists to prepare an international code, which 
was translated into French, Italian and Chinese. 

There has been much valuable work done in history and 
the historical collections of colony, state, colleges, counties 
and towns are of the most decided value. The Connecticut 
Historical Society was organized in 1825, largely through the 
inspiration of the famous educator, Henry Barnard. In 
1843, it took possession of its rooms in the Atheneum, which 
was built through the liberality of Daniel Wadsworth. At the 
death of David Watkinson in 1857, one hundred thousand 
dollars came from his estate for the Watkinson Library, which 
was opened in 1866, in an addition to the Atheneum. The 
presiding genius of the Historical Society, as well as of the 
Watkinson Library for many years, was J. Hammond Trum- 
bull, who was born in Stonington in 1 82 1 . He had a wide and 
accurate knowledge, and was a scholarly writer. Another 
distinguished name in the literary history of the state is that 
of C. J. Hoadly, who for years was librarian of the State 
Library, which is now fittingly housed in a noble structure 
on Capitol Hill. Trumbull and Hoadly did invaluable ser- 
vice in putting in order and publishing the records of Con- 
necticut, and their successors are ably continuing their work 
in making permanent and available priceless material con- 
cerning the notable personages and events of the past. 
33 



CHAPTER XXXVII 
ART 

IN view of the characteristics of the pioneers settling 
Connecticut, the motives bringing them hither, and the 
practical bent which has been so conspicuous in the history, 
one is not prepared for any brilliant flowering of artistic 
genius, since we do not usually associate wariness, homely 
common sense, political shrewdness, sharp business capacity 
and industrial inventiveness with interest in the fine arts, 
but there have been creditable development and acknowl- 
edged skill with canvas, marble and bronze. "Connecticut 
is not Athens" was the famous reply of Governor Trumbull 
to the yearning of his son John for art, yet this state was the 
pioneer in the original art of America, and she produced 
the first, and for years almost all of the standard historical 
works; having more artists of acknowledged skill than any 
other state, and the first academic art school in the country. 
One's astonishment at this is lessened when he considers the 
wealth of natural beauty within the commonwealth, a beauty 
which calls together more painters of national reputation 
than any other section of America. 

The rise of art is traced to the coming of Dean Berkeley 
in 1728, bringing with him John Smybert, a painter. Smy- 
bert was not a genius, but he was a well educated artist 
who had studied Van Dyck, and came to America with that 
master's spirit. It was an inspiration to the colony to have 
such a picture brought here as The Berkeley Family, 

514 



Art 515 

which is now in the Yale Art Gallery. After spending 
several years in Boston, Smybert died near the threshold 
of his career. We know little of the life of J. B. Blackburn, 
but he was a very important figure in the development of 
American portrait painting — leading directly to Copley, the 
greatest of the Colonial painters. One tradition is that 
Blackburn was a son of J. B. Blackburn of Wethersfield, 
and was born about the year 1700. He passed from view 
about 1760, and is regarded by competent judges as the 
first native-born artist of America. One of his paintings 
is a large canvas of Governor Saltonstall's family, finely 
painted with grace and power. W. H. Whitmore says of 
Blackburn, " In his day as an artist, he was second only to 
Copley." He was a teacher of Copley, and most of his work 
was done in Boston, where thirty of his portraits are owned. 
The name of Ralph Earl stands among those of the pioneers 
of art in Connecticut. Earl was born in Lebanon about 
1 75 1, and twenty years later, he was painting miniatures 
in many parts of the colony. When twenty-five years 
old he had an opportunity to go abroad, where he remained 
twelve years, studying under Benjamin West. He ob- 
tained permission to paint a portrait of George III. His 
principal work after his return to Connecticut is a series 
of four large paintings, made while he was a member of the 
Governor's Foot Guard. They are the first historical paint- 
ings executed by a native artist. He also painted Niagara 
Falls, and portraits of Colonel George Wyllys, Judge Ells- 
worth, Colonel Talcott, and the best portrait in existence of 
Roger Sherman. 

The name Trumbull, so eminent and beloved in Con- 
necticut, stands in the first class among the early artists, 
in the person of John Trumbull, son of Governor Jonathan 
Trumbull. He was born in Lebanon, June 6, 1756. After 
graduating from Harvard in 1773, he turned to painting, 
but was diverted by the army, and served with Washington 
and Gates. Resigning in 1777, he went to London, and 



516 A. History of Connecticut 

studied with Benjamin West. After his return to America, 
he did much to foster the love of art here. He was presi- 
dent of the American Academy of Fine Arts. Though not 
a great master, Trumbull was a conscientious worker, and 
his portraits will always be valuable, because of his personal 
knowledge of men like Washington, Jefferson, John Adams, 
Monroe, John Jay and Alexander Hamilton. 

A mystery hangs about the name of Elkanah Tisdale, 
who was born in Lebanon about 1771. His best work is in 
miniature portrait painting on ivory, and a portrait of 
General Knox reveals the touch of a master. Anson Dickin- 
son, who was born in Litchfield in 1780, was regarded in 
181 1, as the best miniature painter in New York. During 
the last five years of his life he painted in Hartford. An 
early Hartford painter of portraits was Joseph Steward, 
and among his works is a portrait of Nathan Strong, a 
pastor of the First Church. It is in the possession of the 
Connecticut Historical Society. Steward is notable as 
being the first teacher of Samuel Waldo, who was born in 
Windham in 1783, and became an able painter of portraits. 
He studied three years with Benjamin West, and after he 
returned to Connecticut, he had a studio on Exchange Corner, 
Hartford. He was one of the best art critics of his day, 
and his untiring faithfulness is suggested by his advice to a 
pupil: "When you paint a coat-sleeve paint it as carefully 
as you paint an eye." Fine examples of Waldo's portraiture 
are the head of President Jackson in the Metropolitan 
Museum and one of himself. As Copley in Boston was 
influenced by Blackburn of Connecticut, so painting in this 
colony was influenced by Copley, who had a marked power 
over Earl, Trumbull and Waldo. 

The earliest American sculptor was Hezekial Augur, 
who was born in New Haven in 1791. He was at first a 
merchant, but soon turned to sculpture and mechanical 
inventions. He was self-taught, and his talent turned to 
wood-carving, in which his work was so good that Professor 



Art 517 

Morse urged him to try marble. His first work in this 
line was a head of Apollo, after which he produced his 
head of Washington and figure of Sappho. By this time 
his fame was secure, and he received a commission from 
Congress to make a bust of Chief Justice Ellsworth, which 
stands in the United States Supreme Court room in Wash- 
ington. The marble statuettes, Jephthah and his Daughter, 
were carved without models, and are in the Trumbull 
Gallery at Yale College. They are of a high rank and the 
drapery is remarkably well done. Jephthah' s daughter 
shows the unskilled touch, but with all its crudity it is 
sweet and refined, and its pose of frightened inquiry, with 
the incline of the figure and the droop of the arms is beauti- 
fully conceived. 

We come now to the famous name of Samuel F. B. 
Morse, son of Jedediah Morse, the eminent Woodstock 
minister, and compiler of the first American geography. 
He was born in Boston in 1781, graduated from Yale in 
1 8 10, studied painting under Washington Allston and 
Benjamin West, became one of the best of our early portrait 
painters, and was elected first president of the National 
Academy of Design. He was appointed professor of the 
history of art in the University of the City of New York. 
While he lived in New Haven, his residence was in a low- 
roofed house, almost on the site of the present Yale Art 
Building. His work is of a very high order, as may be seen 
from his fine portraits of the father and mother of Donald 
G. Mitchell, now in the Hartford Atheneum, and that of 
Lafayette, which is in the New York City Hall. This 
versatile genius, while returning home from Europe in 1832, 
conceived the idea of the magnetic telegraph, and with 
Professor Draper he took the first daguerreotype made in 
this country. 

Edwin Percival, brother of the poet and the actor of that 
name, was born in Kensington in 1793, studied at Hartford, 
and excelled in ideal sketches. The Three Daughters of Job 



51 8 .A History of Connecticut 

is his best work. Daniel Dickenson, who was born in 
Litchfield in 1795, studied painting in New Haven, and 
devoted himself first to miniature portrait painting, then 
advanced to the canvas, and was successful through a long 
life. Nathanael Jocelyn was born in New Haven in 1796, 
and after a varied experience, in engraving bank-notes and 
painting, he established his studio in New Haven, where as 
an enthusiastic painter and teacher of painting, he exerted 
a powerful influence, leaving works of grace and power. 
S. S. Osgood is supposed to have first seen the light in New 
Haven in 1798. He studied in Boston and in 1825, he 
opened a studio in Hartford, where for five years he was 
the leading portrait painter in the city. In 1830, he entered 
upon a course of portrait painting in Europe, where he 
ranked with the best of his day. A son of Connecticut by 
adoption was Thomas S. Cummings, who was born in 1804, 
and lived for many years in Mansfield Center. He studied 
for three years with Henry Inman and was influential in 
the founding of the National Academy of Design. Cum- 
mings was called by Dunlap the best instructed painter in 
water color portraits in America. Henry C. Shumway was 
born in Middletown, and when a schoolboy he showed 
artistic taste, which led to his becoming a student at the 
National Academy at twenty-one. He painted a fine 
portrait of Henry Clay, and his miniatures in oil on ivory 
are of singular beauty. Seth Cheney was born in South 
Manchester in 18 10, and his attention was early turned to 
crayon drawing, in which he reached such distinction that 
in Paris, the home of crayon artists, he was acknowledged 
to be the greatest American artist in crayon drawing. Later, 
he worked successfully in oil. The Head of a Roman Girl 
suggests his superior skill. 

The name of Flagg stands high among the artists of 
Connecticut. Henry C. Flagg was born in New Haven 
in 18 12, and in early life he gave evidence of the artistic 
genius for which his uncle, Washington Allston, was dis- 



.Art 519 

tinguished. His work was mainly in marine views and the 
painting of animals. George W. Flagg was born in New 
Haven in 18 17, and while still a boy he was an artistic 
prodigy. He studied with his uncle, Washington Allston, 
visited Europe, and while there he painted one of his 
fine works, the Match Girl. He returned to New Haven at 
eighteen, and at twenty-one he painted a capital portrait 
of William Ellery Channing. Among his best works are 
the Landing of the Pilgrims and a superb portrait of Washing- 
ton Allston. Jared B. Flagg was born in New Haven in 
1820, and at seventeen he began independent portrait 
painting. At nineteen he settled in Hartford, where he 
painted several governors. After moving his studio to 
Brooklyn he exhibited a picture of Angelo and Isabella at 
the National Academy, and was elected academician in 
1854. For several years his work in the fine arts was in the 
background, while he served as rector in Birmingham and 
Brooklyn, and later he returned to portrait painting, in 
which he never lost interest. He left many paintings of a 
high order, among which are portraits of some of the judges 
of the Court of Appeals of New York City. One of the best 
things that this gifted man did was to write the Life and 
Letters of Washington Allston. 

Chauncy B. Ives was born in Hampden in 1812; he 
studied sculpture in New Haven and Boston, and spent six 
years in Florence and twenty-five in Rome. In 1855, he 
opened a studio in New York, and received orders for 
statues of Governor Trumbull and Roger Sherman for the 
Washington Monument. The fine piece of bronze of Bishop 
Brownell on the grounds of Trinity College is his work. 
Luther Terry, who was born in Enfield, spent most of his 
life in Florence, Rome and Venice, and secured a well- 
deserved eminence for his graceful treatment of scriptural 
subjects. J. W. Stancliff was born in Chatham in 1814, and 
he became a marine artist of fidelity and skill. One of his 
larger canvases is entitled Beached for Repairs and it hangs 



520 A. History of Connecticut 

in the Allyn House, Hartford. Stancliff was for a time presi- 
dent of the Hartford School of Design. George H. Cush- 
man, the miniature painter, was born in Windham in 1814, 
and he did his best work in Newington, excelling as a water 
colorist, and putting into exquisite form some of the strong- 
est and sweetest traits of the human face. R. W. Hubbard 
was born at Middletown in 1847, and studied here and 
abroad, becoming a member of the National Academy 
of Design. He was especially effective in chiaroscuro — 
the silvery light, and he wrought with slow and careful 
elaboration. 

The name of John F. Kensett stands in the front rank 
of artists. He was born in Cheshire in 18 18, studied with 
vigor and enthusiasm in England, France, Germany, 
Switzerland and Rome. In 1847, he opened a studio in 
New York. He is known as the beginner's friend, and his 
singular beauty of style and fidelity to his ideals are illus- 
trated in his best works, Genesee River and Lake George. 
" The New England Farm Scene Painter " is the title applied 
to George H. Durrie, who was born in New Haven in 1820. 
Pastoral and snow scenes especially interested him and his 
grouping of animals is remarkable. Edward S. Barthole- 
mew, who was born in Colchester in 1822, studied at the 
National Academy of Design, and for a time had charge 
of the Wadsworth Gallery, Hartford, where he enjoyed the 
friendship of Isham and Church. He had a passion for 
modeling in clay, and later he wrought in marble. After 
going to New York, he had a severe attack of smallpox 
which destroyed his remarkable beauty, and left him a 
cripple, on crutches, but it did not impair his courage. He 
made his way to Rome, and came under the instruction of 
Farero in bas-relief. Then he went to Greece and the 
East. His works show a marvelous variety; the greatest 
is Eve Repentant, the original of which is in Philadelphia, 
and a copy is in Hartford. He also designed the Shepherd 
Boy and Washington. Ralph Isham, who was born in 1820, 




ta 




2 Q 



Art 521 

wrought with fine taste and delicate skill at the Wadsworth 
Gallery. Charles D. Brownell, who was born in Providence 
in 1822, made East Hartford his home at an early age, and 
after studying with Julius Busch he devoted himself to 
landscape painting. The Charter Oak is one of his best 
works. 

No more distinguished name appears in the list of 
Connecticut artists than that of Frederick E. Church, who 
was born in Hartford in 1826. Through his school days 
everything was made subservient to painting, and as a 
special favor he was permitted to be a pupil of Thomas 
Cole, from whom he caught a taste for classical landscape 
composition and a passion for perfecting details, a tendency 
contrary to that of the rest of the world of artists. The 
reaction came later, when Sir Caspar Clarke came from 
England to take direction of the Metropolitan Museum, 
and rehung Church's Heart of the Andes and the Mgean Sea. 
Clarke also insisted that Church was a great painter. Church 
was a man of unquenchable resolution and energy ; he studied 
in every clime. His "brush was his walking-stick." He 
painted Niagara in six weeks, after making many sketches. 
In 1853, he went to South America, where he caught the 
inspiration for his famous Heart of the Andes and Chimborazo. 
His visit to Labrador made it possible for him to paint his 
most remarkable canvas, Icebergs. The Parthenon and 
View of Quebec, which are in the Atheneum, are among 
his best pictures. His Morning in the Tropics is also a 
beautiful fruit of his versatile and gifted brush. 

John L. Fitch was born in Hartford in 1836, studied 
in Munich and Milan, and is known as a forest painter. 
One of the finest of his works is Twilight on John's Brook. 
The special interest of Gurdon Trumbull, who was born 
in Stonington in 1841, was living fish, and his best canvas 
is A Critical Moment. George F. Wright, who was born 
in Washington in 1828, was a student of the National 
Academy, also in Munich, and after practicing his art in 



522 .A. History of Connecticut 

Italy for some time he opened a studio in Hartford. His 
portraits are seen in the State Library, Atheneum and in 
many private houses. He painted one of the earliest 
portraits of Abraham Lincoln, and the Portrait of a Child 
is a good example of his skill. Olin L. Warner, the sculptor, 
was born at West Suffield in 1844, and early in life he gave 
promise of a brilliant career. After studying in France he 
opened a studio in New York, and his best works are 
Twilight, The Dancing Nymph, a bronze statue of William 
L. Garrison and one of Governor Buckingham. His last 
work was upon a contract for two doors for the Congressional 
Library; he completed one, but a fall from his horse cut 
short his work on the other. In his Diana may be seen a 
fine example of the delicate and refined delineation of the 
beautiful in character, so characteristic of this gifted sculptor. 
Louis Potter, the sculptor, was born in Chatham, 
New York, began his art studies while a student at Trinity 
College, with Charles Noell Flagg, under whose direction 
his striking originality and suggestiveness developed. A 
remarkable illustration of Potter's early power is seen in 
his Life and Death, a painting of a skull and a rose. After 
going to Tunis, Potter engaged in Arabian studies and was 
led to devote himself to sculpture, in which he became 
famous. His work is along the three lines of Arabian 
character studies, Alaska Indians and classical symbolism. 
His Earth-bound is a work of marvelous power and sug- 
gestiveness, — an aged man and two women support an 
enormous burden, which bows them over, while a little girl 
plays between them. He had a power of intuition which 
enabled him to portray in symbols the universal life force 
which lies behind all created things, and the symbolism, 
though striking and spiritual, is so simple and inevitable 
that a child may interpret it. In his Dance of the Wind 
Gods of the East and West, there is an interesting study of the 
different races. Other works of his are The Basket-weavers, 
A Hunter and his Dogs, The Call of the Spirit, The Master- 




The Athengeum and Morgan Memorial, Hartford 

From a Photograph 




The Old State House, Hartford, now City Hall 



Art 523 

builder and The Fire Dance. Though he died at thirty- 
nine, his genius and industry filled out a remarkable career. 
Gilbert Munger, "painter, poet, patriot," was born in North 
Madison, and died in 1903, having achieved the distinction 
of being made Baron of the House of Orders. His superb 
genius was recognized by honors given in Italy, Germany 
and France. 

Among the architects David Hoadley, designer and 
builder of the United Church, New Haven, has a high 
standing. He was born in Waterbury in 1774, where he 
designed the celebrated Scoville house, also the Russell 
house in Middletown, a famous piece of domestic archi- 
tecture. Among his many excellent works are the meeting- 
houses in Milford and Norfolk, still in existence, also the 
Professor Kingsley house on Temple Street, New Haven. 
Though he was self-taught, his work is of a high order. 
While Hoadley was working on the United Church, Ithiel 
Town was building Center and Trinity on New Haven Green, 
the two men giving to the city a remarkable flavor of old 
New England. Ithiel Town was born in Thompson in 
1784, worked in Boston for a time, then went to New Haven, 
prepared to do designing and building work. In 18 12, he 
was chosen to design and build the Center Church. About 
the same time, he took up the designing of the Trinity 
Church. Both were finished in 1815, and Town was in the 
front rank of American designers. He also designed the 
old State House in New Haven, the Professor Salisbury 
house, and many other buildings. For Hartford he de- 
signed the Wads worth Atheneum and Christ Church. 
In many of the old towns there are fine examples of colonial 
architecture, prominent among which are the Christopher 
Wren churches in Hartford, Wethersfield and Farmington. 

There are many living artists that should be mentioned 
were a complete list attempted; moreover the Yale Art 
School, for whom John F. Weir and John H. Niemeyer 
have done so much, and the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hart- 



524 -A. History of Connecticut 

ford are vital sources of artistic culture. The Atheneum 
has recently been enlarged and enriched with art treasures 
through the beneficence of a distinguished son of Hartford, 
J. Pierpont Morgan, whose gift of the Morgan Memorial is 
one of the most beautiful buildings in New England. The 
new State House, the majestic State Library and the superb 
New Haven Court House are also illustrations of the modern 
interest in noble architecture. There is also a widespread 
attention to art in the public, private and evening schools, 
which are cultivating taste and skill in drawing, painting and 
moulding, so that while "Connecticut is not Athens," she is 
becoming more and more an art center, and there are many 
indications that the future will be worthy of a past whose 
artistic achievements have been of a high order. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII 
MUSIC 

THE history of music in Connecticut not only brings 
before us some curious customs, it discloses also some 
interesting and suggestive phases of the life of the people, 
unfolding from generation to generation. In tracing it 
from the crude psalm-singing of the early settlers to the 
varied, and often superb culture of the present, we 
notice that while music, both sacred and secular, was 
earnestly cultivated in England in the days of Henry VIII., 
Elizabeth and James I., the Revolution had swept over the 
country, and the Puritans had destroyed organs, burned 
music-books, dissolved church choirs and chased musicians 
from the organ gallery. With more of the spirit of Calvin 
than of Luther, Puritanism was suspicious of music, and per- 
mitted nothing elaborate, allowing only the melody of the 
hymn to be sung. Thus the Puritan psalmody became a 
crude use of a few old tunes, modified by the climate and 
disposition of New England; a kind of people's plain song 
run into the mold of a neat little version of the psalms, which 
they brought over from Amsterdam, a version by the Rev. 
Henry Ains worth, a musical celebrity, who placed over 
the psalms the melodies in diamond-shaped notes, without 
bars — a favorite at Plymouth. In 1640, the Bay Psalm 
Book was published at Cambridge — the second book 
printed in America — and it was so well received that it ran 
through seventy editions. At a time when lyrical and 

525 



526 j\ History of Connecticut 

sacred dramas and oratorios were taking root in Germany, 
when Handel and Bach were pouring forth their immortal 
works, when the great Henry Purcell was giving color and 
beauty to English dramatic and religious music, the Puritans 
began the long climb from the rude, and often doleful strains, 
to a superior knowledge and refinement. 

We smile at the cautious deliberating over the question 
whether a Christian could conscientiously sing at all, or 
only "make melody in his heart unto the Lord, " and perhaps 
come in strong on the Amen, or whether any one but a Chris- 
tian should sing, or whether the psalms should be sung or 
read in church. The discovery that the Hebrews sang in 
worship settled the matter with most people, but every 
energy was exerted to make the singing as solemn and 
unworldly as possible. Haydn had written the First 
Symphony when the New England congregations were 
divided as to whether they would retain the "lining-out" 
of the hymns. The composer of the Ninth Symphony 
was born the same year that William Billings published his 
rude, fuguing New England Psalm-singer. The religious 
people's song of early years gradually settled down into 
five tunes or noises, the like of which has not been heard 
before or since. These tunes were Old Hundred, York, 
Hackney or St. Mary's, Windsor and Martyrs, and they 
often seemed to draft in the roar of the Atlantic, the howl 
of the wolf and the yell of the Indians. They were never 
sung twice alike, and while they were going off, there were 
hardly two singers abreast, for the slow-gaited saints would 
linger to breathe once or twice in a syllable, while others 
would press boldly on and get through early. 

Lining-out was a method established by Parliament in 
1644, and New England adopted it cheerfully, for money 
was not plentiful, and it was an object to save the cost of 
hymn-books. It came about in this way in England: the 
Westminster Assembly of ministers, to which Parliament 
referred all matters of religion, abolished the liturgy, and 



Miasic 527 

decided that there should be no music in church but psalm- 
singing, and "for the present, where many in the congrega- 
tion cannot read, it is convenient that the minister, or some 
fit person . . . read the psalm line by line, before singing 
thereof." It was a queer way to sing a hymn, — give it out 
by installments of a line at a time, read by a deacon (hence 
called "deaconing"). The effect was a little confusing at 
times, and must have called a smile to merry lips, when lines 
like these were rendered: 

The Lord will come, and He will not 

and after this difficult undertaking even for the Lord had 
been rendered, they sang, 

Keep silence, but speak out. 

For more than eighty years, those five tunes, with their 
ceaseless variations, were sung, for so much sacredness had 
gathered about them that new music seemed like an allure- 
ment of the tempter. In 1690, music was put into the new 
editions of the psalm-books, and there is one of these now 
in existence that was published in Boston in 1698. The 
movement to improve church music began near the opening 
of the eighteenth century, and it met decided opposition. 
The New Way, as singing by note was called, was bitterly 
condemned by conservatives. One man said, "If we sing 
by rule, the next thing we shall pray by rule, then we shall 
preach by rule, then popery." In some churches, for a 
time, the two ways were practiced side by side. In 1733, 
the church in Glastonbury voted to use one way in the 
morning, and the other in the afternoon. In some churches 
lining-out continued until after the Revolution. About 
1720, a decided interest in music arose; singing societies 
were formed, and much excitement prevailed over daring 
and impious attempts to bring in new tunes and singing by 
rule. In 1721, Thomas Walter, of Roxbury, Massachusetts, 



528 A. History of Connecticut 

published a book with music and suggestions how to sing 
the tunes. Walter's views were decidedly advanced. He 
complains of the singing which prevailed, as sounding like 
"five hundred tunes roared out at the same time." He 
speaks of the noises as "so hideous and disorderly as 
to be bad beyond expression." Most ministers and many 
others joined to improve the music, but the opposition 
fought the changes as only a little less fearful than the 
devil, who figured in the witchcraft epidemic, through 
which they had just passed. Here are some of the objec- 
tions: That it was a new way to sing by note; that it 
was less melodious than the old way; that there were 
so many tunes, no one could learn them; that churches 
were disturbed, and good men grieved; that it was popish; 
that it would introduce instruments; that the names 
of the notes were blasphemous; that the old way was 
good enough; that it was a contrivance to get money. 
They asked seriously whether men forty years old 
and more could learn to sing by note, or ought to try. 
The rising tide of interest in music swept away these 
and other objections, and led to the holding of singing 
schools, which not only diffused musical knowledge 
among the people, but also improved the style of church 
music. The tunes in Walter's book were arranged in three 
parts and they were the first music printed with bars in 
America. 

With the coming of singing schools in 1720, there came 
also choirs — a natural consequence of singing schools. 
There was objection to choirs on the part of many, who 
regarded skillful singing a sin, and sometimes the choirs were 
trying. In one church the choir struck and went out, but 
thinking better of it returned, when the minister got his 
revenge on them by giving out the hymn, 

And are ye wretches yet alive? 
And do ye yet rebel? 



Music 529 

In 1 74 1, Dr. Franklin published in Philadelphia an 
edition of Watts's Hymns, and the same year his Psalms 
were issued in Boston. Watts did what he could to retire 
the "lining-out" custom, by saying in the preface of an 
early edition, "It were to be wished that all congregations 
and private families would sing without reading." 

With the coming of singing schools and choirs, "lining- 
out" fell away, though not without a struggle, as in one town 
where the choir had started in as soon as the hymn was 
announced, and after it had gone through it, a resolute 
deacon arose and putting his spectacles on, said, "Now let 
the people of God sing." About the same time that Watts's 
books came into use, others, such as Tate and Brady's and 
Flagg's, were issued, and in 1770, there appeared the first 
American composition, The New England Psalm-singer: 
or American Chorister, by William Billings of Boston, a 
tanner, then a singing teacher; he was an honest, earnest, 
whole-hearted sort of a man, with a powerful voice, from a 
throat rasped by snuff at wholesale. His book of one 
hundred and twenty tunes and several anthems had some 
new features, and among these was the writing of music in 
four and five parts. Billings was a curious mixture of the 
smart, ludicrous, patriotic and religious, together with a 
vast confidence in his musical ability. His New England 
Fugue filled him with joy and pride, and he writes of the 
fugue, it "has twenty times the power of the old slow tunes; 
each part straining for the mastery and victory, the audi- 
ence entertained and delighted. Now the solemn bass 
demands their attention — next, the manly tenor — now, the 
lofty counter — now, the volatile treble. Now here — now 
there, now here again. O ecstatic! Rush on, you sons of 
harmony." The spirit of the Revolution was stirring men's 
souls, and Billings became a patriotic psalm-singer, and he 
put fife, drum and musket into the psalm-tunes for march 
and camp. His masterpiece, the tune of Chester, floated 
the following song : 
34 



530 A History of Connecticut 

Let tyrants shake their iron rod, 
And Slavery clank her galling chains: 
We'll fear them not, we'll trust in God; 
New England's God forever reigns. 

The foe comes on with haughty stride, 
Our troops advance with martial noise ; 
Their veterans flee before our arms, 
And generals yield to beardless boys. 

He did not hesitate to summon the people to join in this 
outburst : 

O praise the Lord with one consent, 

And in this grand design, 

Let British and the Colonies unanimously join. 

In his Lamentation over Boston, we find the following: 

By the rivers of Watertown, we sat down: 
Yea, we wept as we remembered Boston. 

Billings is said to have begun the use of the pitch-pipe, a box 
six or eight inches long, four inches wide, and an inch thick, 
with a mouthpiece, and letters to denote the pitch, regu- 
lated by a slide. Later came the tuning-fork. These little 
instruments marked a decided advance on the time when 
singers made the daring and perilous venture to "strike up 
the tune" at a speculation. Billings also encouraged the 
use of the viol, or as we should say, the violoncello, an 
instrument so dangerous that some of the worshipers ran 
out of the meeting-house when it was tuned. Had not 
Amos quoted the Lord as saying, " I will not hear the melody 
of thy viols"? Then came the flute, hautboy, clarinet and 
bassoon, until there was quite an orchestra in the choir 
gallery, reminding some of the conservatives of Nebuchad- 
nezzar's band of cornet, flute, dulcimer and sackbut. It 
was safer and more economical to call on the train-band to 
furnish instruments to lead the rising tide of song than to 



Music 53 1 

put in the unsavory organs. There is a record of an organ 
in Worthington in 1792, but the nineteenth century was well 
started before this instrument came into general use. 

A Connecticut teacher and composer of music, who 
came soon after Billings, was Andrew Law, who was born in 
Cheshire in 1748. Law indulged but little in the fugue, and 
did efficient work as a teacher and writer of books. He 
insisted on the practice of giving to women the air of the 
tune, which had been taken by the tenor. This was not 
acceptable to all of the saints, especially the tenors, who 
believed with Paul that woman was the weaker vessel. Law 
began at the opening of the nineteenth century the issue of 
a periodical, called the Art of Singing, but he never had 
anything like the popularity of Billings, though he was 
much better educated in music, and was the most thorough 
teacher in the country. He emphasized "tuning the voice" 
so that it would harmonize with other voices. Through the 
middle and latter part of the eighteenth century schools 
and choirs made a brisk market for new books, which came 
in swift succession, and composers and teachers of psalmody 
went from town to town to teach music, and peddle "new 
and never-before-printed" psalm- tune collections. There 
was not much secular music, but lively "fuguing" tunes 
were in great demand. 

Early in the nineteenth century, there arose a reaction 
against the Billings style, as the works of Handel, Haydn 
and Mozart came into use, and Handel's Messiah and 
Haydn's Creation were rendered by church choirs and 
musical societies. The psalm-tunes and weak sentimental 
anthems of the earlier time were swept away before inspiring 
creations of the great European masters. Among the last 
of the Old Guard was Thomas Hastings, who was born in 
Washington, Litchfield County, in 1787, and after a short 
trial at farming, he became a teacher of music, was connected 
with a county Handel and Haydn Society of Oneida County, 
New York, edited a journal, wrote hymns, composed tunes 



532 .A. History of Connecticut 

and did much to develop correct singing and reverent music, 
though he considered symphonies as "excellent subjects for 
study to professional men, but possess few attractions for 
the community at large." He held that "parlor music, 
when not intended for the mere exercise of talent, should be 
adapted to promote moral principles, refined sentiments, 
and sympathetic emotions." Hastings had not thrown off 
the Puritan strait- jacket, but he was one of the last of the 
school of psalm-tune teachers, for the music of the pro- 
fessional had begun to be heard in the land. Musical 
societies multiplied, especially in New York and Boston, and 
Connecticut felt the impulse of the operas and oratorios, 
and before long, music was cultivated in the public schools, 
and pianos multiplied in the homes. The spinet and harpsi- 
chord had long been used in a very limited way. This useful 
movement in music became powerful after 1830, at a time 
when the minds of the people were awakening to the calls 
of the new age. No one can understand the advance in 
music without considering the influence of Mason and Webb, 
whose leadership was probably more decided than that of 
Hastings. It was a long evolution from the psalm-singing Pur- 
itans, with not even a tuning-fork, to the music of the present 
day. All kinds of questions had to be answered, and various 
conditions met. The merry old tune of Lydia Fisher became 
the patriotic Yankee Doodle; psalm-tunes, which had wafted 
fervid souls heavenward, cheered the patriots at Saratoga 
and Trenton; instrument after instrument crept into the 
choir gallery until a worshiper might almost imagine that 
a train-band was rehearsing the harp music of the heavenly 
orchestra. About a hundred years ago, organs, paid 
choirs, pianos, oratorios, operas, singing in the public 
schools, hymn-books of all kinds, from the jingle to the 
classic, carried the people still further from the days of five 
tunes with variations, sung without even a pitch-pipe to 
standardize. Singing schools continued, and in some 
communities they were held twice a week; there were 



Mvisic 533 

thorough teachers, and drill was exacting. Young folks 
might court .and flirt to their hearts' content on their way 
to school and afterwards, but during the sessions, the task 
was stiff and the discipline strict. 

The most eminent composer of the modern period was 
Dudley Buck, who was born in Hartford in 1839, and after 
a brief course at Trinity College, he went to Leipzig to the 
Conservatory, studying under the great masters, Haupt- 
mann, Richter, Rietz and Moscheles; later he studied the 
organ under Schneider at Dresden. After three years in 
Germany, he spent a year in Paris, and then returned to 
Hartford, to be a church organist and teacher of music. He 
entered upon a series of organ-concert tours lasting fifteen 
years, playing in almost every important city and in many 
smaller towns, popularizing the best music, and interpreting 
it to thousands. In 1869, he was called to the "mother- 
church" of Chicago, and after the fire in 1871, he went to 
Boston, to become organist at St. Paul's; later he was in 
charge of the "great organ" at Music Hall. In 1875, Buck 
became assistant conductor at the Cincinnati Music Festi- 
val, and on invitation of Theodore Thomas, he had a part in 
concerts at the Central Park Garden, New York. He 
became organist of the Holy Trinity, Brooklyn, and in 1877, 
conductor of the Apollo Club, which he founded, and brought 
to a high efficiency, writing for it many of his numerous com- 
positions for male voices. Buck was a thoroughly trained 
musician, talented, expert and clever. He laid stress on the 
quartette, and wrote many organ solos, sonatas, marches, pas- 
torals; he holds a foremost place in the cantata. In 1876, he 
set to music the Centennial Meditation of Columbia, performed 
under the direction of Theodore Thomas. His largest 
work was an oratorio, The Light of Asia, and in his later 
compositions, he adopted the Wagnerian method, though 
otherwise he follows the school of canon and fugue, "with 
an Italian tendency to the declamatory, and well-rounded 
melodic period." His sacred music holds a high place, and 



534 -A- History of Connecticut 

his Golden Legend won the prize offered by the Musical 
Festival Association of Cincinnati in 1880. His latest 
published works are short cantatas with organ accompani- 
ment, called The Coming of the King, The Story of the Cross 
and Christ the Victor. After a long and valuable service in 
which he composed many songs, anthems and organ pieces, 
Dudley Buck retired from active work in 1903, and in 1909, 
he died. 

An important movement of recent years is the Litch- 
field County Choral Union, a union of five societies, center- 
ing in Norfolk, and embracing a large part of the county, 
through which seven hundred voices are in training, with 
weekly rehearsals, under the direction of Richard P. Paine, 
from January until June, when a three days' festival is 
given in a large building erected for the purpose. The 
chorus of four hundred and twenty-five voices is assisted 
by an orchestra of seventy-five instruments, and the first 
concert is always a full oratorio. On the second and third 
evenings the chorus is generally utilized in short choral 
work, while the rest of the time is devoted to orchestral 
music, with several instrumental soloists. Several years 
ago composers were encouraged to prepare original works 
for the first performance at the festivals, and an oratorio, 
a cantata, symphony, two violin concertos and other works 
appeared then, mostly by American composers. The ex- 
pense is met by Carl Stoeckel and his wife, who do this 
service in memory of Robbins Battell, in whose honor the 
Choral Union was formed to present to the people of Litch- 
field County the best choral and orchestral music. Twelve 
years have wrought marked changes in polishing and finish- 
ing tone and phrase, and in bringing deeper meanings of the 
works to the singers, and now any current choral work can be 
given with brilliant effect. One result of this movement is 
the marked improvement in the church music in the county. 

While it is impossible to give in detail the rich develop- 
ment of music in recent times, stress must be laid upon the 




Dudley Buck (1839-1909, 

From an Engraving 



Music 535 

Yale School of Music, the influence of which, with its San- 
ford, the Stoeckels, Parker, Smith, Jepson and others, has 
been wide and powerful. Prominent in the founding of the 
school was Samuel Sanford, who was born in Bridgeport 
and was connected with the Damrosch Symphony. San- 
ford was professor of the pianoforte, and had much to do with 
bringing to Yale the eminent Horatio Parker, whose composi- 
tions are large in volume, and high in quality. His Hora 
Novissima was performed at Chester, England, in 1899; be- 
ing the first American production ever given on one of those 
festivals. In 191 1, he was awarded the Metropolitan Opera 
prize of ten thousand dollars for the opera Mona. His 
Wanderer' s Psalm was given at the festival at Hereford, 
England. The New Haven Symphony Orchestra has been 
justly celebrated, as has the Hartford Philharmonic Society, 
and the Beethoven Society, founded in Hartford by George 
E. Whiting; doing large service under Barnet. 

The progress has been long but decided, from the rude 
and venturesome five-tune medleys to present conditions, 
and instruments of all kinds from the penny-in-the-slot 
device to the richest organ are doing their best — many of 
them under the skillful touch of trained and able musicians 
— to reinforce the voices of wonderful singers. Delightful 
concerts at the Sunday services charm the worshipers, and 
waft their aspirations heavenward far more esthetically 
than in the old lining-out days. Music is an important 
department in the course in public schools. Humble is the 
home that does not possess some instrument. Germany, 
Italy, Russia, England, Poland and the great cities of our 
own country pour into Connecticut their treasures to help 
usher in the Golden Age of music. 



CHAPTER XXXIX 
AGRICULTURE 

AMONG the resources to which the settlers turned for a 
living, farming stood first, and they found ample field to 
develop muscle, skill and patience, since the greater part of 
the three million acres consisted of rolling or mountainous 
highlands, with innumerable small valleys. The eastern 
parts are less rugged than the western, and between these 
lies the Connecticut basin, with its sandy loam, containing 
also deposits of sand and gravel. The soils, as related in an 
earlier chapter, are derived from the glaciation of the under- 
lying rock, and the highland portion has been swept bare 
of the finer material at the higher altitudes and on the 
steep slopes. The lower inclines are covered in places by 
a glacial debris, in which are found stony, sandy and heavy 
loams. Large areas can be used only for forestry or pas- 
turage, and fruit trees flourish on the rocky hillsides. The 
Indians did little in farming, though they cleared fields by 
girdling and firing, and the settlers learned from them about 
growing and storing Indian corn. 

The farmer, whether primitive or trained, whether toiling 
on the stony fields of the eastern counties or delving in the 
rich, mellow soil of the central valley, has been an indis- 
pensable element in the commonwealth. The farm has been 
a poor place for a lazy man to exercise his gifts, and the 
virtues it has fostered are industry and thrift. From early 
times the typical farmer has been an incessant worker; 

536 



-Agriculture 537 

mending a cart like a mechanic, tapping shoes like a cobbler, 
doctoring a sick cow like a veterinary, and building a barn 
like a carpenter. His clothes were mostly from the backs of 
his sheep or from his field of flax, and while they were not 
fanciful either in color or cut, they would wear, and keep 
out wind and water. Shoes were usually home-made ; a calf 
furnished the skin; an itinerant shoemaker made the solid 
footwear, and about Thanksgiving time a pair of shoes was 
given to each of the boys with the charge to make them last 
a year. In the summer, boys and even men went barefoot, 
and if they walked to church, they would carry their shoes 
and stockings until near the sanctuary, thus saving shoe- 
leather and shine. 

Money was in little use; nearly everything but taxes 
was paid for by exchange. When a farmer killed veal, 
mutton, pork or beef, he distributed portions of the meat 
among his neighbors, who returned a similar quantity when 
convenient. In the spring, after the first hoeing, the farmer 
would take a load of corn or rye to the nearest large town, and 
carry home flour, molasses, spices and other household 
necessities, and in the autumn the pork was carried off in 
the same manner. Sometimes twenty teams started from 
one neighborhood together, all loaded with grain or pork 
for the city, perhaps thirty miles distant. The hired man 
was in the early days of native birth; sometimes the surplus 
from a large family in the neighborhood; sometimes men of 
family who rented small houses, to be found in every neigh- 
borhood, and "worked out," by day or month, earning from 
twelve and a half to twenty dollars a month, and he usually 
kept a cow and pig ; raising potatoes enough to carry him 
through the season, while the cow was pastured on the high- 
way in the summer, and perhaps let out to a farmer for the 
winter for her keeping. The potatoes were usually raised 
on land cultivated on shares, the work being done after a 
hard day's work. As we have noticed in another chapter, 
most of the food used in the farmer's home came from the 



53^ A. History of Connecticut 

farm or the neighboring lake, river, Sound or forest, and on 
the roof which flattened out over the lean-to sliced apples, 
whortleberries, blueberries and nuts were dried. Under the 
oven was a recess for the dye-pot, for the housewife did her 
own dyeing, coloring cloth, stockings and mittens. Most 
of the dyestuffs came from the farm, butternut bark making 
a brownish yellow, the bark of a yellow oak making a yellow 
that was nearly fast color, indigo weed a blue that would run, 
unless a small quantity ot indigo from the store were mingled 
with it, and poke berries making a purple. From the field 
of flax and the back of sheep came materials for summer and 
winter clothing; the women usually making garments for 
themselves; an itinerant tailoress would spend a week or 
two in a home and make coats, vests and trousers for men and 
boys. In winter the farmer usually wore two shirts, a white 
and a red one, both of flannel. The heavy boots made from 
the calfskin and tanned near by, when well filled with tallow 
and lampblack, defied mud and slush. 

About the first of April came the busy season, which 
lasted, with now and then a breathing-spell, until Thanks- 
giving. After haying, the farmer would sometimes leave the 
stock to be cared for by the hired man, and taking his family 
in his oxcart, go to seaside or lakeshore for a few days of 
fishing and clamming. The farmer's wife needed to be a 
woman of physical vigor, ingenious mind, "good calculation, " 
energy and swift hand, for in addition to preparing the meals, 
washing, ironing, spinning, weaving, making clothing, knit- 
ting, mending, caring for children, often half a score of them, 
she must make soap, butter, cheese, pickles, preserves, 
candles ; the lard must be tried out ; the pork and beef must 
be salted; sausages made, and the catechism sowed and 
harrowed in. In days before clubs discussed the perils 
of adolescence, and balanced rations for hens, she had to 
make the boys mind, and the pullets lay. It was her flying 
fingers that knit mittens and stockings, that washed the 
dishes, tended the loom and rocked the cradle. 



Agricviltvire 539 

The tools and implements used on the farm were of the 
most primitive kind, and as for machinery, that was mainly 
the bone and muscle of the sturdy workers. Hoes and spades, 
as well as ploughs, were made by the village blacksmith. 
A snathe was furnished by the limb of a tree, bent at the 
needed angle, and the scythe was bought where the hoe was. 
The rifle, or whetting-tool, was a bit of stone of convenient 
shape, or a piece of wood whittled to the convenient size, 
and coated with a mixture of tallow and pulverized flint. 
Soon after sunrise the mowers were in the field, taking turns 
in leading off in their circles around the grass. Boys fol- 
lowed after the dew had dried, "spreading the swaths," 
and after dinner the wilted grass was turned with forks; 
toward night raked and cocked, and the second day carted 
to barn or stack. Thunder showers were frequent in some 
seasons, and these gave zest and incited to speed. Farmers 
usually followed a method of rotation in the raising of the 
plain crops before the days of tobacco and "truck-farms." 
When a field of grass was "run out," it was ploughed in 
autumn or early spring, and corn planted on the sod; the 
second year, potatoes were raised, after these vegetables 
came into use; then the land was "laid down" and oats, 
barley or rye was sown with the hayseed. After the grain 
had been taken off, the clover, herd's grass and redtop ap- 
peared, and the number of crops of hay depended on the 
strength of the soil and the generosity of the top-dressing. 

Before the breaking out of the Civil War in 1861 , farming 
and manufacturing were about equally balanced. At that 
time there was about the same amount of capital, and the 
same number of people employed in each occupation. 
Following the war there was a large expansion of the manu- 
facturing industries in the state; large areas of virgin 
soil were opened in the west by the rapid increase of railroads, 
and agriculture has suffered in consequence. Of late there 
has been a mild reaction, and a growing conviction that when 
it is followed as a business by a man who has some capital, 



54° -A. History of Connecticut 

and is so fortunate as to understand how to farm intelli- 
gently, farming is a reliable and lucrative occupation. It 
is being studied carefully and scientifically by many of the 
young men at Storrs Agricultural College, which was 
founded in 1879, and is offering invaluable opportunities 
to make the most of the soils and climate of Connecticut for 
the production of fruits, grains and vegetables in the most 
effective ways. Studies and practical work go on together, 
in the dairy, the potato patch, the cornfield, the greenhouse, 
the orchard and the hennery. Chemistry, biology, the 
influence of fertilizers, chemicals, intensive culture, draining 
and various sprays are at work there to bring into the life of 
plant, hen, cow and student the most valuable results; to 
learn how to develop hidden resources, correct faults, and 
apply brains to the work of the farm. The tract of six 
hundred acres upon which the college is located, is in a 
picturesque country among the beautiful hills and streams 
of Tolland County, and the influence of the institution is not 
limited to the training which it gives to the students who 
gather there, but extends also to thousands of others, who, 
through lectures and literature, share in the skilled and 
practical teachings of its professors. 

Other organizations in the state, such as the Dairymen's 
Association, Horticultural Society, Market Gardeners' 
Association and others are efficient and powerful means for 
developing the resources of the state. The spread of the 
trolley and the increase of automobiles have given a zest to 
farming, bringing within the influence of cities regions which 
were formerly lonely. Nervous and wearied dwellers in the 
city, wealthy business men and discontented workers in 
shop or store vie with thrifty Swede, Italian and Pole to 
own and till valleys and hillsides, which have long furnished 
healthful though scanty livelihood to the settlers and their 
descendants. Of late, the unrest among farmers has been 
owing to the lure of the city which has called away the boys, 
the spread of the enemies of vegetation, and the greater 



.Ag£ric\iltuire 54 1 

cost of living through multiplying pleasures and luxuries. 
During the past ten years there has been an increase in the 
population of the state of twenty-two and seven-tenths, and 
a decrease of five and five- tenths per cent in farm land. 
Farm property has increased more than forty per cent, 
in value, and more than half the increase is in the value of 
buildings, live stock, and machinery. There was a contin- 
uous increase in the number of farms from 1850, to 1880, 
followed by a net decrease during the past thirty years. The 
acreage of improved farm land decreased seventy-six 
thousand acres in the ten years ending with 1910. The 
Connecticut farm averaged one hundred and six acres in 
1850, and eighty-one acres in 19 10. The average value of a 
farm in 19 10, including equipment, was nearly five thousand 
dollars, or one and a half times greater than in 1850, and 
the average value of farm lands in 19 10, was thirty- three 
dollars an acre. During the last ten years the value of land 
and buildings per acre has increased twenty-one dollars, 
and the value of implements, machinery and live stock is 
nearly twice as great as sixty years ago. In 19 10, nearly 
eighty-four per cent, of the farms were operated by owners. 
Of the 23,234 farms owned in whole or in part by the 
operators in 19 10, the number mortgaged was forty- three 
and two-tenths per cent., a slight increase from 1900, and 
a large increase from 1890, but this is more than offset by the 
increase in the value of farms . In 1 9 1 o , three out of every four 
farmers were native whites, and of the 6861 foreign-born 
white farmers, Germany furnished over thirteen hundred, Ire- 
land over eleven hundred, Russia and Sweden over six hundred 
apiece, England and Austria over five hundred each, and Italy 
over three hundred. There has been an increase in the value 
of poultry of fifty-three and five-tenths per cent, in ten years. 
The total value of farm crops in 1909, was nearly twenty- 
two and a half million dollars, an increase of thirty-five 
per cent, in ten years, owing largely to the advance in 
prices. Hay was the most valuable crop, being eight times 



54 2 -A. History of Connecticut 

greater than corn and sixty per cent, greater than tobacco. 
Corn had double the acreage of potatoes and ten per cent, 
less value. Orchard fruits increased in value nearly a mil- 
lion and a third dollars in ten years from 1900, to 1910. Over 
two-thirds of the farmers employ labor, and the average 
expense in 1909, was three hundred and eighty-three dollars. 

No more intelligent, enthusiastic and energetic men can 
be found in any other calling than are seen on the dairy, 
fruit and market-gardening farms of this state. The whole 
civilized world is ransacked for pure-bred stock, the most 
valuable seeds, the most productive and the choicest trees; 
the most successful methods of releasing the richness of 
the soil, and developing the varied and enticing resources of 
valley and hillside, are studied with eagerness and patience. 
Prophetic was the coming into Hartford County in 1846, 
of twelve of the best cows John A. Taintor could find on the 
island of Jersey. Other breeds, Brown Swiss, Guernseys, 
Durhams, Devons, Ayrshires, Holsteins and Dutch, came 
in to supplant or improve the plain grade cattle; study, 
balanced rations and greater care have produced decided 
changes in the dairy interests of the state. The publications 
of the Connecticut Agricultural Station at New Haven, 
Storrs College and the Yale School of Forestry are doing 
much to develop and conserve the wealth of field, orchard, 
forest and dairy. A state forester, authorized by the Forestry 
Act of 1903, to protect and cultivate trees for the benefit of 
the state, is also ready to advise private owners as to the 
treatment and preservation of woodlands. 

From early times tobacco has been cultivated in Connecticut, 
and as early as 1765, it was exported to England from Suf- 
field. Since that time many farmers in the state have devoted 
thought and incessant care to the task of producing the 
finest results. Experts from the Agricultural Department 
at Washington have made a thorough study of local con- 
ditions, and have greatly assisted in improving types and 
methods of production. Farmers in the Connecticut Valley 



.Agricviltuire 543 

have had such confidence in the excellence of their tobacco, 
that they have endured disappointments from drought, frost, 
wind, hail, and low prices; they have petted their crops like 
an only child; they have screened them with snowy canvas 
shields ; they have fought insect pests with untiring patience, 
and many of them have gained a competence as the result. 
So skillful is the culture of the crop that it can be raised year 
after year indefinitely on the same land with no diminution 
of production, which will range from one thousand to two 
thousand five hundred pounds to the acre. The broad-leaf 
and Havana seed-leaf wrappers are favorite varieties, which, 
excepting the Florida growth from Sumatra, give the nearest 
approach to the Sumatra. With increase of towns and 
quick transportation, market-gardening has come to be a 
lucrative and attractive form of farming. The variety of 
vegetables raised would be a marvel to Roger Sherman. 
The coming of men of many nationalities has created changes 
in productions. Tomatoes, egg-plant, celery, cauliflower, 
kale, dandelions, asparagus, radishes, lettuce, cucumbers 
and onions are among the products of the skillful market- 
gardener, whose Association advances his knowledge and 
protects his interests. Connecticut is coming to be famous 
for its fruit. The boom, which is enticing large capital to the 
irrigated lands of the far West, has not yet struck modest and 
wary Connecticut, where the people are learning that the 
hills of the state can produce apples unparalleled in the world 
for quantity and flavor. Nearly three million peach trees 
are growing in her orchards, and in peach-production she 
ranks next to Georgia and Maryland among the Atlantic 
states. The development of farming interests is promoted 
by good roads, in which the state has been active for fifteen 
years. 

Agricultural papers distribute a gentle rain of intelligence 
about insecticides, fungicides, butter-fat, balanced rations, 
dust-mulch and trap-nests. Farmers' institutes pour forth 
a torrent of information about planting potatoes and corn, 



544 -A- History of Connecticut 

infecting the soil with lively nitrogen, killing pernicious 
bacteria, and under-draining. He who runs may read how 
to spray to death every known scale, bug, moth and blight. 
Granges in every live town tell how to make a garden, raise 
flowers, keep the wife happy and the boy contented on the 
farm, defy high prices and smile blandly at millionaires. 
The adventurous youth learns how to select a rooster that 
sings the Lay of the Cheerful Leghorn. Seed companies 
distribute pamphlets, with pictures of melons, cucumbers, 
and celery, as brilliant as a Turner. Congressmen flood 
their constituents with seeds which come up as well as 
some of their arguments go down. The farmer misses the 
patient ox at the agricultural fair, but he can enjoy the 
festive horse, and discover which automobile he would 
like to buy. 

There was a time when the farmer's boy, who was less 
brilliant than the others, was booked for the ministry, if 
solemn and pale, and for the farm if industrious. Now, 
brains are demanded, trained and skillful minds, to make an 
able farmer. It is not enough to follow the old paths; the 
farmer must crowd out purslane with a twenty-five cent 
cauliflower; raise a bunch of celery, where grew two blades 
of grass; convert rainwater into lettuce and outwit the 
ingenius microbe. The first commercial fertilizer company 
dates from 1862; before that the barnyard and cellar, wood 
ashes and a sprinkling of guano enticed the coy potato, and 
cheered the graceful corn. Formerly, the farmer's wife made 
the butter; now sixty creameries in the state release her 
busy fingers, that she may attend the pleasant club, chat 
through the telephone, or trolley to the city. Farming has 
changed decidedly since 1845, a convenient date to mark the 
transition from the older methods. It is becoming more and 
more a science. Wheat, oats, rye, Indian corn, and buck- 
wheat were raised in larger quantities in 1800, than a century 
later, but hay has increased by a third; garden vegetables, 
berries, peaches, plums, apples and poultry enlist the 



Agriculture 545 

enterprising. For a time, industrial activities drew away 
many to the factory and the store, but a reaction has set in. 
The song of the abandoned farm has died away. There are 
few abandoned farms; some have passed into the hands* of 
foreigners who lay up money where the descendants of the 
settlers find it hard to make both ends meet; some have 
been changed into villas for nerve-weary people from the 
cities; some are managed with success by men of brains and 
means. 

Brains and enterprise have always been at a premium 
in agriculture, and there never was a time when the farmer 
was not compelled to stand guard against numberless 
enemies; in the early years crows, blackbirds, wolves, foxes, 
and numberless other animals were bold and hungry; in 
1666, the caterpillar and cankerworm appeared; trees were 
tarred to arrest this pest; in 1770, the palmer worm came, 
attacking rye, wheat, and grass. We find record of the peach 
worm and how to treat it over one hundred years ago, also 
of the white grub in corn, meadow and pasture, while a 
blast would often strike wheat and rye. 

There was a decline of interest in the quiet farm after 
the war, when inflation touched the brain ; when the humble 
plow seemed slow compared with the charge of artillery; 
and the whirr of machinery more entrancing than the whet- 
ting of a scythe or the chug of a hoe. There was a glamour 
about city life, which caught the ambitious and the restless, 
but a movement the other way is discerned which is as rapid 
and strong as might be expected in this land of steady habits. 
The spread of the electrics, telephones, and good roads, 
together with the tidings of the trials of city wage-earners, 
which float into the country, are encouraging the farmers 
to continue to till the soil, and their prosperity is suggested 
by the fact that hundreds of them are buying touring-cars, 
and the percentages of mortgages which make the feat 
possible is no larger in country than in city. Then too the 
experience of many in the West, in mines, business and agri- 

35 



546 -A. History of Connecticut 

culture has led to the opinion in some minds that if people 
are willing to deny themselves the comforts of life in the 
East as they are often forced to do in the West, they will 
find a modest El Dorado near home. 




Bear Mountain, Salisbury, 2354 feet high — the Highest Point in Connecticut 




The Connecticut State Flag 
This is the Connecticut State Flag, as decided by the General Assembly in 
1897. It is of azure blue, with shield of argent white, leaves and fruit in their 
natural colors. The dimensions are five feet and six inches by four feet and 
four inches. 



CHAPTER XL 
THE CITY 

THE changes taking place in Connecticut since the pio- 
neers toiled wearily over the Indian trails to the Great 
River, and the agricultural life into which they plunged are no- 
where else more vividly suggested than in the multiplication of 
the larger towns and cities with their varied problems. Until 
the Revolution there were only towns, and in 1784, thirty- 
eight years before the incorporation of Boston, the General 
Assembly incorporated the cities of Hartford, New Haven, 
New London, Norwich, and Middletown, although neither 
of them had a population of five thousand, and police, 
waterworks, fire companies, sewers and parks were still in 
the future. The mayor had no salary, though as judge of 
the City Court he drew two dollars a day until 1802, when 
his pay was increased to three dollars and a half. For fifty 
years the two duties of the mayor were to preside over the 
Common Council and to act as judicial magistrate. In 1836, 
his judicial powers were taken away, and about that time 
he was made peace officer; in 1844, the Hartford charter was 
amended to give the mayor authority to punish resistance 
to law and abuse of authority, and in 1842, the charter of 
New Haven was changed by the addition of an important 
amendment, which has since been embodied in every other 
city charter in the state, making the mayor conservator of 
the peace, and as the chief executive, qualified to suppress 
disorder by calling on the police or private citizens. Hartford 

547 



54^ .A History of Connecticut 

was the first city in the state to confer the veto power, and 
this was done in 1859. For more than half a century the 
council system prevailed, and in i860, New Haven intro- 
duced the method of boards of finance, health, police, fire, 
parks, water, library and education. 

The Census Bureau defines the urban population as 
that in cities or other incorporated places of twenty-five 
hundred inhabitants or more, and in 1910, there were 
seventy-two such towns, with ten and three-tenths per cent, 
only in rural territory. Moreover some of the people in the 
rural districts have a comparatively easy access to cities 
through the trolleys or steam roads. Connecticut has eigh- 
teen cities, and seven of these have a population of twenty- 
five thousand or more. New Haven, the largest city, has a 
population of over one hundred and thirty-three thousand, 
and Bridgeport over one hundred and two thousand. In- 
habitants in rural territory in 1890, were sixteen and five- 
tenths of the whole population ; in 1910, ten and three-tenths, 
showing a substantial drift to the city. In the last ten 
years the population of the larger towns increased much 
more rapidly than in the smaller towns — those over twenty- 
five thousand and under one hundred thousand, thirty-one 
and six-tenths per cent.; towns between twenty-five hun- 
dred and twenty-five thousand nineteen and six-tenths 
per cent., while the rural population was practically station- 
ary. It appears also that of the total increase in the state 
in the last decade, three-fifths was in towns of over twenty- 
five thousand inhabitants. 

Of the total population in 1910, of 1,114,766, thirty-five 
and five-tenths per cent, were native whites of native parent- 
age ; thirty- three and six-tenths per cent, were native whites of 
foreign or mixed parentage; twenty-nine and five-tenths per 
cent, of foreign-born whites, and one and four-tenths per 
cent, of negroes. Of the urban population thirty-one and 
one-tenth per cent, are native whites of native parentage, 
and of the rural fifty-six and four- tenths per cent. ; the per- 



TKe City 549 

centage of foreign-born whites was thirty and six-tenths 
in the urban and twenty and one-tenth in the rural popula- 
tion. Another fact to be borne in mind is that for many 
years the excess of deaths over the births of the native Amer- 
icans of the state is almost three thousand annually, accord- 
ing to the Bureau of Vital Statistics. In view of the 
above figures which show a more rapid change in the cities 
than in the country from native to foreign-born, it appears 
that the cities are becoming peopled to a considerable extent 
by the foreign-born. This does not necessarily call for 
anxiety regarding the commonwealth, for many of the best 
citizens were born in Europe, and the teachers in our public 
schools assure us that in regularity of attendance, eagerness 
to learn, and brain power, the children of the foreign-born 
hold their own with the Connecticut Yankees. 

As noted elsewhere, the water power, seaports, nearness 
to New York and Boston and railroad facilities have en- 
couraged manufacturing in the state, so that, while in 1849, 
there were fifty thousand employed in manufacturing, 
in 1909, there were more than two hundred and ten thousand 
so engaged. Bridgeport, the foremost city of the state in 
manufactures, shows an increase in 1909, as compared with 
1904, of forty-seven per cent, in value of products and thirty- 
two per cent, in average number of wage-earners, ranking 
thirty-third in 1909, in the country in value of products. 
New Haven, the second city in the state in value of products, 
increased from 1904, to 1909, nearly twenty-nine per cent, 
in value of goods manufactured. Waterbury showed an 
increase of over fifty-five per cent, in the value of the products 
from 1904, to 1909, and the increase of Hartford in those five 
years in value of products was over fifty-six per cent. Nor- 
wich with her large textile industries increased nearly fifty- 
six per cent, in her products in the five years, and New Britain 
made the greatest gain in number of wage-earners — thirty- 
four and two-tenths per cent. In another chapter the details 
of the manufactures are given in greater fullness, but it is 



55° -A. History of Connecticut 

fitting to note here that during the five years from 1904, to 
1909, there was a considerable increase in the relative import- 
ance of the state as measured by the value of the products 
of the largest establishments. This emphasizes the fact 
that in this manufacturing state there is a natural massing 
of the population in cities. There are conditions, which the 
modern city, especially the factory town, has introduced 
which are serious. The bringing together into a compact 
civic life of large masses of people to work in shops and live 
willingly or unwillingly in a herded manner introduces 
possibilities of peril to the home. How can five boys and 
girls, sharing with their parents two or three rooms, find 
decent conditions for home life? The manufactory town 
is composed of a more changeful population than the country 
town ; business in some particular line flourishes and declines ; 
wage conditions vary; men go whither they can make the 
most money; many unmarried men drift from town to town, 
and this tends to foster, especially in the unprincipled, lack 
of interest in home life, and too often social conditions which 
tend to immorality. 

The city abounds in appeals to the pocketbook, and thus 
threatens a needful thrift; it offers a variety of entertain- 
ments, musical, theatrical, pictorial, ranging in price from a 
nickel to two dollars. All this reminds us that a new age is 
upon us, and more sturdy wills are needed to keep the people 
sound, pure, economical and self-controlled, than in sim- 
pler times. The foods offered, the multiplying delicacies 
from all lands, from hothouse and the skillful artist of sugar, 
chocolate, fruits and nuts; the cooling drinks, the delicious 
ices, the toothsome vegetables, the attractive store windows 
with articles and prices to match taste and every pocket 
except the empty one; the changing fashions, the fascinat- 
ing automobile, the temptations to freedom between the 
sexes where men and women are away from home in dreary 
boarding houses ; the shrinking from marriage because of the 
cost of rents and living, and the ever increasing expensive- 



The City 551 

ness of the home, all these things suggest to the considerate 
possible dangers, especially in view of the fact that we have 
yet to see whether native and foreign-born people will 
be as skillful in continuing our institutions as the Puritan 
fathers were in establishing them. Then too the employ- 
ment of men and women in close proximity to one another 
in many establishments has a tendency to promote looseness 
of conduct, and is apt to be hostile to manners and morals, 
leading to temptations unknown a century and a half ago. 
The going of so many young people of both sexes away from 
the wholesome influences and restraints of country life to 
the loud, gaudy atmosphere and attractions of the city 
streets and cheap theatres ; the cleavage between the classes ; 
the business conditions that narrow to a hair the margin 
between wage and the necessities of life; the glitter of the 
saloon and the lure of the concert hall, all suggest a new age 
and new problems, calling for new organizations, wise pro- 
visions, large outlay and, perhaps, radical changes in the 
whole economic life. When the country embraced nearly 
all the population the young people were kept busy at home, 
when out of school. There was enough to do in kitchen, 
barn, and on the land for hand and mind; but the city boy 
has no wood to chop, no chickens to feed, no cows to milk, 
and it is a far more difficult undertaking to bring up a family 
of children in the city than it was in the country ; requiring 
more judgment, inventiveness and character to guide aright 
the young people who live in a whirl of temptations. 
When the time for marrying approaches, the high rent, re- 
duced physical strength of women and the calls of society, 
requiring the employment of servants, together with the 
attractions of the clubs, embarrass with a flood of difficulties 
of which Governor Trumbull did not dream. Then too the 
social unrest is more acute in the city than in the country, 
as opportunity for debate and exciting appeals is ampler 
there than among the pleasant hills. Novel ideas, 
untried paths, pictures, stories, newspapers of every grade, 



55 2 -A. History of Connecticut 

the ever present saloon, all this, without anchorage in a 
good home, makes the modern city a problem to the wise, 
and a peril to the thoughtless and inexperienced. 

To offset this gloomy view it should be said that the city 
encourages ability and fosters skill to meet difficult situations. 
The increasing wealth in the larger places furnishes 
means to build institutions to promote intelligence and men- 
tal training, unknown a hundred years ago. Inventiveness, 
energy, and combinations of earnest and far-sighted men are 
stimulated in a wide-awake city to match and overcome the 
ingenious and glittering appeals from the underworld. 
There are dangers everywhere, and there are nests of iniquity 
in the country, away from the police, where corruption as 
demoralizing and vice as horrible as in city slum are practiced. 
In some ways it is as difficult to keep young people pure and 
high-minded in the urban village as in the city, where keen 
and resolute minds are organized for good as others are for 
evil. Decided changes are taking place in the cities, which 
are outgrowing their petty rivalries; are becoming rich 
in schools, libraries, museums, associations and parks, and 
also in a noble civic pride, prophetic of better days. 



CHAPTER XLI 
THE OLD CONNECTICUT AND THE NEW 

IN shaping the impressions of this history of two hundred 
and eighty years, the first thing to have in mind is the fact 
that Connecticut developed in America under the singularly 
favorable influence of an idea, which had for centuries been 
struggling to rise into action, that government is of law and 
not of men. This state wrought into her institutions the prin- 
ciples which had been seeking for centuries to gain free play in 
England; being peculiarly favored in her location, settlers and 
charter for the further development of a government by the 
people, toward which the English constitution had long been 
working. Provincial pride ought not to foster the delusion 
that our lauded government is a pure product of America. 

Another fact to remember is that the settlers of Con- 
necticut did not come hither to establish a free republic, but 
a religious commonwealth, in which there should be a close 
union of church and state. While the colonists on the 
Connecticut River were a little less rigid than some other 
New Englanders, for nearly two centuries, Connecticut clung 
to the principle that church and state are one. A clear view 
of this fact enables one the easier to pardon some things, 
which might otherwise be classed with bigotry, and to treat 
with charity lingering influences of mediaeval narrowness and 
severity. 

The third fact to emphasize in this review is the vitality 
of the institutions, resting on the principle of government by 

553 



554 -A, History of Connecticut 

law, and working themselves free. The Connecticut system 
has been found to be workable, and when the people see that 
it will not go in one way, they set their common sense to the 
task of discovering how it will go. The settlers were pos- 
sessed with three principles: accountability to God, service 
and a high-minded optimism. When the Massachusetts 
Court of Assistants in 1630-34, slighted the towns in the 
new government, Cambridge, Dorchester and Watertown 
saw that they could not have due recognition without 
conflict, and that there was a place on the Connecticut River 
where they could get a living, they determined to move. 
Able as were Roger Sherman, Samuel Johnson and Oliver 
Ellsworth, their influence in the constitutional convention 
of 1787, would have been as the whisper of a child, had it not 
been for the fact that they went to that convention with all 
the weight of a century and a half of experience in the 
institutions of Connecticut. The representative democracy, 
which had worked so well and so long in this colony, found 
a clear voice in those strong men, who could stand among con- 
flicting minds and tell what their history had taught them. 

In the early years there was needed the positive influ- 
ence of religion to hold together the young commonwealth 
amid threatening dangers, but when the constitution of 1818, 
was adopted, a new era opened. 

The old order changeth, yielding place to new, 

And God fulfils Himself in many ways, 

Lest one good custom should corrupt the world. 

The vitality, the common sense of the Connecticut idea as 
a government of the people by law developed institutions 
to meet new conditions. There has always been a fair 
mixture of the progressives and the conservatives, though 
the latter have usually been in the majority. Town meet- 
ings and church meetings have often suggested the line, 

On Jordan's stormy banks I stand. 



THe Old Connecticut and tKe New 555 

Men of decided convictions, deep-seated prejudices, and out- 
spoken loyalty to their principles have fought out their 
battles through heated debate, in which aggressive personal- 
ities were developed, caustic speech indulged in, and sharp 
controversy maintained, but there has been a remarkable 
sobriety of judgment and steadiness of purpose, due in large 
measure to the soundness, foresight, and courage of Hooker, 
Winthrop, Haynes, Ludlow, Eaton, Trumbull, and Sherman. 
A measure of stability was given to the young common- 
wealth by the excessive jealousy of the towns over their 
rights, though the action sometimes taken would now be 
intolerance. This appears in the treatment of the Tories, 
who were struck with a heavy hand in that life-and-death 
struggle for existence. In the same line was the legislation 
concerning strangers, who might bring in undesirable ele- 
ments or become an expense to a town. The treatment of 
Quakers was not cordial, though milder than in Massa- 
chusetts, but in this colony they were advised to move on. 
Sturdiness of character, abundant nerve and readiness to 
stand together to the end in behalf of the institutions of the 
state, have fostered a conservatism, which easily drifts into 
self-satisfaction, and even an unwillingness to admit that 
the old is not good enough. The witchcraft craze and slave 
folly are not brilliant examples of sound judgment, but the 
stern repression of debate, stiff opposition to new ideas and 
stern hostility to a more balmy theology, which led to violent 
upheavals and bitter controversies elsewhere, had slight hold 
in Connecticut, which has been willing to be laughed at for its 
" steady habits" and "blue laws, " because it knew that while 
it was tenacious of the old ways, and positive in its loyalty 
to Puritan convictions, it was friendly to truth, and though 
not emotional, it was not sentimental. It has been broad- 
ened and liberalized by great thinkers; has patiently stood 
in its lot; has avoided the corner; has not advertised its 
victories, or exploited its virtues, and when men of sense and 
courage were called for, has been ready. Its history has been 



556 .A History of Connecticut 

neither brilliant nor picturesque; plain homespun has 
been good enough. It has smiled cheerfully when twitted 
for the craft of the "Connecticut Yankee," knowing that 
its productions would not have circled the globe, and its 
machinery have stood the test of competition, if its business 
were on the "wooden nutmeg" style. 

No other colony carried itself with greater wisdom and 
self-control toward a monarch like Charles II. There was 
nothing frantic or scarcely dramatic in its grasp on the 
threatened charter; the action was quiet but effective. The 
Andros situation seemed formidable, but the colony was 
neither flurried or depressed. Fletcher came with a commis- 
sion from the king which threatened liberty; a little 
calm thinking and determined action thwarted him. The 
Stamp Act was handled a little roughly, but with no delay, 
and no other colony was so well prepared for the Revolution, 
or fought more effectively. Soldiers from some of the other 
states were earlier at the seat of war in the Rebellion, but 
when Connecticut regiments were there, they were ready to 
fire. The contest for the boundaries was long and trying, 
but the commonwealth maintained its dignity and self- 
respect, firmly welded together its resolute colonies, avoided 
sudden catastrophes, smiled toward conservatism, yielded 
to progress, though sometimes a little late; discovered 
that the golden mean between local independence and public 
control is to have both. Steadfast, sensible, willing to learn ; 
practical, interested in education, theology, philanthropy 
and art; pouring much of its richest life into other states, 
the older Connecticut is secure in its sturdy vigor, its thor- 
ough manliness, its religious seriousness, its devotion to a 
pretty severe God, and an exacting self-interest. 

What shall we say of the New Connecticut? It is too 
early to write its history, but we can venture a few things. 
The state has lost its homogeneous character. The popula- 
tion increased from two hundred and thirty-eight thousand 
in 1700, to nine hundred and eight thousand in 1900, with 



THe Old Connecticut and the New 557 

native-born Americans forming nearly seventy-four per 
cent, at the latter date. In 1910, the population had risen 
to 1,114,766, with seventy and four-tenths per cent, total 
native. We learn from the annual reports of the Bureau 
of Vital Statistics that from 1901, to 191 1, the excess of the 
number of deaths over the number of births among native 
Americans was three thousand per year. Changes which 
we hope will prove an evolution upward have come ; theology 
has softened its strenuous appeal ; stormy blasts from Mount 
Sinai have changed to zephyrs from the Mountain of the 
Beatitudes; the stern imperative in home and school has 
lost its downward slide, or been mellowed into the gentle 
subjunctive, and the note of authority is set to music. 
Instead of sixteen offenses punishable by death, there is 
barely one crime calling for a death penalty. Filthy and 
barbarous Newgate has been polished into a summer resort, 
and a reformatory is starting, as hygienic as Yale University, 
and in some ways it promises to be as well equipped. In- 
stead of punishing the demented as witches or unusually 
endowed by the devil, they live in pleasant hospitals under 
the finest medical skill; range over flowery lawns, enjoy 
attractive entertainments, and amid the comforts of an 
intelligent age eat their dinners, while the band soothes their 
disordered nerves with its cheerful strains. Instead of whip- 
ping tramps from town to town, or putting them to hard 
labor in a workhouse, they are kept fat and lazy with side- 
door beneficence. 

Time must work its marvels before the New Connecticut 
shall be as effective a tonic to our optimism as the Old, seen 
through the enchanting haze of the past. Trying distribu- 
tion of wealth, capital and labor in hostile camps, discontent 
with plain living, and craze for speed will test sagacity, com- 
mon sense and institutions as sharply as did Indians, witches, 
slavery or English tyranny. Plymouth Rock can still be 
seen from the higher hills, but from the smoky manufacturing 
towns, degenerate hamlets, and the haunts of vicious politi- 



558 .A. History of Connecticut 

clans, it is a trifle indistinct. Men of strange speech get good 
livings where Puritan brawn toiled, and many of them are as 
worthy of respect and confidence as some of the descendants 
of the Winthrops and Trumbulls. In a school district not 
ten miles from Hartford, after a heated controversy about 
building a new schoolhouse, which the authorities said must 
be done to replace the forlorn monument of neglect, the vote 
stood nine to six, and the nine that voted for the new building 
were Italian landowners; while those in the negative were 
descendants of the Puritans, men to whom cider was dearer 
than the education of their children. 

Our study of the past of almost three centuries helps 
guard against childish despondency over temporary dis- 
couragements and apparent retreat. There has been a 
rhythmic movement in moral and religious life; severity in 
the early years was followed by decadence as the seventeenth 
century closed. Just before the middle of the eighteenth 
century, the Great Awakening, under Edwards and 
Whitefield, roused the churches and stirred a fresh fer- 
vor, which was followed b}^ a lapse of religious seriousness 
as the Revolution came on. The first half of the nineteenth 
century brought new devotion to religion, not only to the 
forms but also to its fruitage in the philanthropies and 
beneficence, which for the first time in the history of the state 
sprang into a flourishing growth. The Civil War with its 
roar of cannon brought discord into the rising music. 
Since then, brotherliness has become more thoughtful, prac- 
tical and ingenious than ever; more patiently responsive 
to human need. In this age of reform, amid the ever rising 
problems of our complex life, there is far more of friendliness, 
generosity and self-sacrifice for humanity than in the earlier 
years. There are many who mourn the passing of the 
"Good old Times," but, as we have seen, there were three 
good old times of religious strictness and devotion to a stern 
Deity, with intervening decadences. It is too early to reach 
a balance in our estimate of the recent years, but there is 



THe Old Connecticut and tKe New 559 

far less of quarreling, strife and bitterness in the communities 
and the churches. People still cheat one another, but the 
stigma resting on dishonesty and meanness is darker than a 
hundred years ago. For nearly two centuries the pulpit 
proclaimed that God has given the heathen up to "judicial 
blindness and hardness of heart," and turns them into 
a very trying and protracted hell, whereas now there is less 
agonizing to save ourselves from such disaster, and a mild 
effort to rescue others. We may lament emptier meeting- 
houses, but those who are there have not been driven thither 
by dread of fines. Theology may be less terrifying and the 
Sabbath less solemn, but there is a serious grappling with the 
great problems of humanity, unknown until the nineteenth 
century. Amid the ever-rising questions of our complex life, 
the task of holding fast the integrity of the commonwealth 
grows no easier, but as long as the Puritan principles of 
accountability to God, service, and a high-minded optimism 
control, the state will continue to be a solid bulwark of 
freedom, and the New Connecticut will nobly develop the 
fine purposes of the early settlers. 



AUTHORITIES CONSULTED 

Connecticut Archives at the State Library: 

a. Industry, 2 vols. 

b. Trade and Maritime Affairs, 2 vols. 

c. Crimes and Misdemeanors, 6 vols. 
Colonial Records of Connecticut, 15 vols., Hartford. 

New Haven Colonial Records, 2 vols., Hartford, 1857, 1858. 
Collections of Connecticut Historical Society, 14 vols., Hartford. 
Early Connecticut Probate Court Records, C. W. Manwaring, 

3 vols., Hartford, 1904, 1906. 
New Haven Historical Papers, 2 vols., Hartford, 1876, 1880. 
Public Records of the State of Connecticut, 2 vols., Hartford, 

1876, 1880. 
A Complete History of Connecticut, Benjamin Trumbull, 2 vols., 

New London, 1898. 
Connecticut Historical Collections, J. W. Barber, New Haven, 

1836. 
The History of Connecticut, G. H. Hollister, New Haven, 1855. 
Connecticut as a Colony and as a State, 4 vols., Editor-in-Chief, 

Forrest Morgan. 
Publication Society of Connecticut, Hartford, 1904. 
Connecticut: A Study of a Commonwealth-Democracy, Alexander 

Johnson, Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1887. 
A History of Connecticut, Elias B. Sanford, Hartford, 1905. 
General History of Connecticut, Samuel Peters, D. Appleton & 

Co., New York, 1877. 
True Blue Laws of Connecticut and New Haven, and the False 

Blue Laws, J. Hammond Trumbull, Hartford, 1876. 
The River Towns of Connecticut, Charles M. Andrews, Johns 

Hopkins University, 1889. 
36 561 



562 Authorities Consulted 

The Secession of Springfield, Simeon E. Baldwin, John Wilson 

& Son, Cambridge, 1908. 
The Connecticut and Gore Company, Albert P. Bates, American 

Historical Reports, 1898. 
History of the Indians of Connecticut, John W. deForest, 

Hartford, 1851. 
Art and Artists of Connecticut, H. W. French, Boston and New 

York, 1879. 
Judicial and Civil History of Connecticut, Loomis and Calhoun, 

Boston Historical Co., 1895. 
The Historical Development of the Poor Law of Connecticut, 

Edward W. Capen, Columbia University Press, 1905. 
History of Taxation in Connecticut, i6j6-?6, F. R. Jones, Johns 

Hopkins Press, 1896. 
Reports of Prison Discipline Society, 1826-36, Perkins & Marvin, 

Boston. 
History of the Pequot War, reprinted from Collections of Massa- 
chusetts Historical Society, Cleveland, 1897. 
Wadsworth on the Charter Oak, Hartford, 1904. 
The History of Insurance in Connecticut, P. H. Woodward, 

Hartford. 
The Witchcraft Delusion in Colonial Connecticut, J. M. Taylor, 

Grafton Press, N. Y., 1908. 
The Development of Religious Liberty in Connecticut, M. Louise 

Greene, Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1905. 
The Connecticut Quarterly and Connecticut Magazine, 12 vols., 

Hartford. 
Travels in New England and New York, Timothy Dwight, 4 vols., 

New Haven, 1821. 
Historic Gleanings in Windham County, Ellen C. Larned, 

Providence, 1899. 
Some Aspects of the Religious Life of New England, George L. 

Walker, Silver, Burdett & Co., 1897. 
The Expansion of New England, Lois K. Mathews, Houghton, 

Mifflin & Co., 1909. 
The American Nation: A History, edited by A. B. Hart, 27 vols., 

Harpers. 
The History of North America, edited by Guy Carlton, 26 vols., 

Geo. Barrie & Son, Philadelphia. 



./VutHorities Consulted 563 

A History of the People of the United States, John Bach McMaster, 

5 vols., D. Appleton & Co. 

Critical History of America, John Fiske, Houghton, Mifflin & 

Co., 1891. 
Beginnings of New England, John Fiske, Houghton, Mifflin 

6 Co., 1898. 

The American Revolution, John Fiske, Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 

1 891. 
Narrative and Critical History of America, 8 vols., Houghton, 

Mifflin & Co. 
The United States, Edwin Wiley and Irving E. Rines, ii vols., 

American Educational Alliance, Washington, D. C. 
The Age of Homespun, Horace Bushnell, Hartford, 1851. 
Speech for Connecticut, Estimate of the State, Horace Bushnell, 

Hartford, 1851. 
Many other works, such as reviews, biographies, histories of 

counties and towns, and works of literature of Connecticut 

authorship have been read. 






J 



J 



Li 




° M 









\C O/L ,U 




INDEX 



Abigail, arrival of the, 14 
Abolition Liberty party, 377 
Academy of the Holy Family in 

Baltic, 224 
"Act of Indemnity," pardon refused 

by, 164 
Acton Library at Old Saybrook, 227 
Acts of Trade, English, applied to 

colonies, 187 
Adams, Jeremy, death of, 58; tavern 

of, 255 
Adams, John, writes of tavern, 256; 
quoted, 294; clothed in Connecticut 
broadcloth, 315; election of, re- 
ferred to, 344; 516 
Adams's tavern, Jeremy, see Jeremy 

Adams's tavern 
Addington, Isaac, prepares college 

charter, 229 
Administration Building erected, 239 
"Adventurers," settling of the, 11 
Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by 

" Mark Twain, " 509 
JEgean Sea, Church's, 521 
^tna, Accident and Liability Co. 
organized, 410 

Indemnity Co. chartered, 412 

Insurance Annuity Fund char- 
tered, 409 

Insurance Company, forming of 

the, 398, 399; agencies through 
west, 400; meets New York losses, 
400; helps farmers, 409, 410; adds 
Annuity Fund, 409 

Life Insurance Co. started, 409 

Africa, slave from, 155, 156 
Agawam, or Springfield, settling of, 
12; representatives of, 56; joins 
Massachusetts, 57 
Ainsworth, Rev. Henry, a music 
celebrity, 525 



Albany, expedition to, 123; troops 
go to, 178; Connecticut troops 
defend, 178; stage to, 312 

Alcott, Amos Bronson, opens a school, 

504 

Alexandria, Col. Ellsworth shot at, 

384 
Algonkin Indians, 28; myth-cycle of 

the, 33 
Allen, charter committed to, 78 
Allen, Ethan, born in Litchfield, 199; 

reference to, 259; story about, 265; 

"committee" sends money to, 284 
Allen, J. M., president Hartford 

Steam Boiler Inspection Co., 411 
Allston, Washington, Morse a pupil 

of, 517; artistic genius of, 518; 

G. W. Flagg a pupil of, 519; 

Flagg's portrait of, 519 
Allyn House, Hartford, painting in 

the, 520 
Allyn, John, delivers seal to Andros, 

99: one of special court, 153; favors . 

surrender of charter, 169; Ran- 
dolph serves writs to, 169; writes 

"Finis" on colonial records, 171; 

describes Connecticut to English, 

195 

Allyn, Mrs. Harriet V., helps buy 
land, 243 

Alnwick Castle, by Halleck, 502 

Alsop, Richard, one of "Hartford 
Wits," 498 

America, first mining company char- 
ter in, 191; Higley makes first 
steel in, 191 ; first type foundry in, 
194 

American Academy of Fine Arts, 
Trumbull president of, 516 

American and Toleration, new party 
called, 348 

American Asylum for Deaf and 
Dumb, 473 



565 



566 



Index 



American Chorister, by William Bil- 
lings, 529 

American Episcopate, movement in 
behalf of, 139, 140; established, 
141 et seq. 

American Journal of Medical Science, 
first published,' 247 

American Journal of Science, Silliman 
starts, 510; Dana editor of, 510 

American Lands and Letters, by 
Mitchell, 508 

American Literary Academy, Part- 
ridge starts, 242 

American Mercury, first Echo in, 499 

American Mutual Life Insurance Co., 
407 

National Life, American Mutual 

merged into, 407 

American Poems, etc., by Smith, 502 

American Prison Association, report 
of, 455 

School for Deaf at Hartford, 472 

Society of Dental Surgeons, 

Hayden organizes, 247 

Temperance Life Insurance Co. 

formed, 410; changed to Phoenix 
Mutual Life, 410 

Ames, Oliver, maker of cannons, 365 

Amherst College, Humphrey of Con- 
necticut a benefactor of, 246 

Amos, Hugh, establishes first ferry, 
96 

Amsterdam Trading Company 
formed, 5; ships of, sail the 
Connecticut, 5 

Anarchiad, published in the Gazette, 
498; verses of, quoted, 499; epics in 
the, 500 

Anderson, Governor John, a negro, 
160 

Andover, theological school at, 370 

Andrews, Ethan A., First Lessons 
in Latin, by, 220 

Andrews, Israel A., president Mari- 
etta College, 245 

Andrews, Samuel, new rector of 
Yale, 230, 231 

Andros, Sir Edmund, loses seal, 99; 
arrives in Boston, 168; brings new 
writ from king, 169; demands 
charter of Assembly, 170; govern- 
ment of, 171; confers with Bull, 
174; reference to, 211; had one of 
early coaches, 254; referred to, 58, 
123, 556 
/ Anglo-American Texas, Austin maker 
of, 204, 205 

Ansantawae sells land to English, 35 



Ansonia, evening schools in, 216; 

electric cars started in, 419 
Antietam, Sixteenth Regiment at, 

385; Mansfield wounded at,. 385; 

Sedgwick wounded at, 390 
Anti-Federalist party in Connecticut, 

342 
Apollo Club, Buck conductor of, 

533 
Arbor Day, Northrop originates, 225 
Arch Street, Hooker's well still in, 13 
A rkwright of A merica, Brewster called, 

366 
Arlington, 9 
Arnold, Benedict, career of, 289, 290; 

treachery of, 290 
Art School, founding of, 237; valuable 

collection in the, 240 
Ashaway, boundary through, 177 
Ashford, first town meeting in, 198; 

Knott a native of, 246; church 

troubles at, 273 
Ashland, 205 
Ashurst, Sir Henry, represents, and 

wins for Connecticut, 180 
Aspinwall, Dr., raises silkworms, 

193, 364 

Assembly, tax voted by the, 179; 
protests to Fletcher, 179; orders 
money, 319; charters bank, 322; 
act of toleration passed by, 340 

Assistants, Court of, Particular Court 
becomes, 84; Superior Court super- 
sedes, 85; indicts Katheran Harri- 
son, 150 

Asylum at Walnut Hill, home for 
drunkards, 491 

Athenaeum, Daniel Wadsworth gives 
the, 394 

Atlas-Geography, by Olney, 220 

Atonement, Pynchon's book on the, 
121 

Atwood, Captain, reference to, 151 

Auburn Seminary, Hickock a pro- 
fessor in, 246 

Augur, Hezekiah, first American 
sculptor, 516 

Augur, Nicholas, voyage of, 186 

Austin, Elijah, sends first ship to 
China, 204 

Austin, Moses, born in Durham, 204; 
maker of Anglo-American Texas, 
204; establishes mines, 204, 205 

Austin, Steven, starter of Texas 
colony, 204 et seq. 

Ayres, Daniel, gives to Wesleyan, 243 

Ayres, Mrs. William, flees Connecti- 
cut, 147 



Index 



567 



B 



Babcock, Adam, one of " committee," 

283 
Bachelor of Arts, Yale makes, 230 
Back-Log Studies, by C. D. Warner, 

508 
Backus, Ebenezer, iron- works of, 291 
Backus, Judge, Rogerines sentenced 

by, 142 
Bacon, witchcraft in time of, 145 
Bacon Academy started, 221 
Bacon, Leonard, of the Divinity 

School, 236; incorporator Invalid 

Home, 491 
Baldwin, Abraham, founder of Uni- 
versity of Georgia, 246 
Baldwin, Governor Sherman, and the 

Assembly, 377; not elected, 378; 

enters Senate, 378 
Baldwin, Simeon E., 98 
Balliol College, Ludlow at, 74 
Baltic, Academy of the Holy Family 

in, 224 
Baltimore, Hayden becomes dentist 

in, 247 
Bank, of New York, Wadsworth 

president of, 393 
of North America, Wadsworth 

founds, 393 g 
Banks, beginning of, 322 
Baptists, 137; dislike in New England 

for, 139; freedom granted to, 139; 
• challenge Establishment, 142; in- 
fluence of " Great Awakening "on, 

274 
Barbadoes, commerce with, 186; 

wine from, prohibited, 187; liquor 

from, 487 
Barkhamsted, reference to, 258 
Barlow, Joel, one of " Hartford Wits," 

498; The Vision of Columbus, by, 

501 
Barnard, Henry, head of normal 

school, 214; letter to, quoted, 218; 

Journal of Education, by, 225; helps 

educational progress, 225; 513 
Barnes, Mary, indicted as witch, 149 
Bartholemew, Edward S., a sculptor, 

520 
Bartlett, Robert, gift of, 211 
Bass, Mr., pastor of Ashford church, 

273 
Battell, Robbins, memorial to, 534 
Batterson, James G., starts Travelers 

Insurance Co., 411 
"Battle Laureate," Brownell called 

our, 507 



Battle of the Frogs, 116 

Bayard, Colonel, writes to Assembly, 
179 

Bay Fight, poem by Brownell, 506 

Bay Path, famous Indian trail, 53; 
Holland writes of, 249, 250 

Bay Psalm Book published, 525 

Beach, Francis, Colonel of Hartford 
Regiment, 385 

Beached for Repairs, painted by 
Stancliff, 519 

Beacon Hill, powder-house on, 283 

Bear Mountain, highest in Connecti- 
cut, 1 

Beaumarchais aids Silas Deane, 287 

Beecher, Catharine, head of Hartford 
Seminary, 222 

Beecher, Edward, president Illinois 
College, 246 

Beecher, Henry Ward, born in 
Litchfield, 379; incorporator In- 
valid Home, 491; sermons by, 506 

Beecher, Lyman, father of Harriet 
Beecher Stowe, 505; father of 
Henry Ward, 506 

Beethoven Society, 535 

Bellamy, Joseph, referred to, 274; 
born in New Cheshire, 275 

Bellows Falls, Peters writes of, 95 

Beloit College, Chapin president of, 
246 

Benedict, Zadoc, father of hat man- 
ufacturing, 356 

Bennington, Warner settles in, 199 

Benton, Andrew, marries Ann Cole, 
148 

Berkeley Hall built, 239 

Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne, contribu- 
tions to Yale from, 232 

Berkeley, Dean, beginning of art 

Berkeley Divinity School, charter 

granted to, 245 
Berkeley Family, The, in the Yale 

Art Gallery, 514 
Berlin, Patersons settle in, 190; 196; 

tin business at, 308 

Academy incorporated, 221 

Berwick, on the Tweed, 187 
Bethel, Seelye native of, 246 
Betts Academy at Stamford, 223 
Biblical Researches, by Robinson, 510 
Bicentennial Fund, raising of, 239 
Big Bethel, Winthrop killed at, 384 
Billings, William, songs by, 526, 529^". 
Birmingham, J. B. Flagg rector of, 

519 
Bishop, Abraham, Republican cham- 



568 



Ind 



ex 



Bishop, Abraham (Continued) 

pion, 345; address by, 345 ; quoted, 

345, 346 

Bishop, Samuel, Republican cham- 
pion, 345 

Blackburn, J. B., a portrait painter, 
519 

B/ac& Fox of Salmon River, The, by 
Brainard, 503 

Black Hall School, at Lyme, 223 

Hawk, an Algonkin Indian, 28 

Horse Tavern, a famous tavern, 

255, 256 

Rock, Tryon captures, 291 

Blackstone, witchcraft in time of , 145; 
quoted, 154 

Blake, Eli Whitney, invents stone- 
breaker, 262 

Blakeslee, Erastus, commander First 
Cavalry, 390 

Block Island, Pequots conquer, 30 

Blok, Adrian, first explorer of Con- 
necticut River, 4; lands at Hart- 
ford, 4; sails to Enfield Rapids, 4; 
explorations of, 4 ff.\ maps made 
from data of, 5; sails for Holland, 
5; referred to, 29 

Bloomfield, Prosser Farm Cottage at, 
481 

Bloomingdale Asylum, tries to get 
Todd, 464 

Blue Laws in Connecticut, 1, 193 
et seq. 

Body of Liberties, Connecticut takes 
articles from, 90 

Bolles, James, his trip with Terry, 397 

Book of Discipline, of the Congrega- 
tional Church, 131 

Book of Distribution, first book of 
records quoted, 12 

Borden, condensed milk invented, 

365 

Boston, most of settlers return to, 1 1 ; 
meeting held in, 79; Peters goes to, 
94; change of church rules in, 133; 
Miss Crandall confers with aboli- 
tionists of, 161; pursuers return to, 
166; Sir Edmund Andros arrives in, 
168; all records moved to, 171 ; 181 ; 
dangerous trip to New Haven 
from, 186; shipments to, 188; In- 
dian trail from Connecticut to, 
249; mounted post to, 250; Madame 
Knight travels from, 251 ; roads to, 
253; stage route from Hartford to, 
257; mail route to, 311; stage con- 
nections with, 355; great fire, 397; 
fire losses, 403; 547 



and New York Air Line char- 
tered, 417 

Asylum, Butler in charge of, 465 

Bay, migration from, 7 et seq. 

Port Bill, enacted, 281; burnt 

by hangman, 283 

Boswell, Sir William, advice of, 6 

Bowdin, principal of Episcopal Acad- 
emy, 223 

Bozrah, Reuben Hyde from, 98 

Brace, Thomas K., president JEtna 
Co., 399; meets ^Etna losses, 400; 
resigns presidency, 400 

Bracy, Thomas, testifies against 
Mrs. Harrison, 150 

Bradford, Gov., quoted, 36, 102 

Bradford, Samuel, indorsement by, 
quoted, 218 

Bradstreet referred to, 249 

Brainard, John G. C, poems by, 503 

Brainerd Academy, in Haddam, 222 

Brandt, Joseph, wipes out Westmore- 
land, 201 

Branford, 18; purchase of, 20; ad- 
mitted to Confederacy, 22; con- 
sultation with magistrate of, 165; 
salt manufactured in, 193; sends 
committee to East Jersey, 205; 
ministers meet in, 229; James 
Blackstone Memorial at, 227; salt 
made in, 313 

Brattleboro, asylum at, 465 

Brent, John, by Winthrop, 508 

Brewer, William A., one of faculty, 
238 

Brewster, railroad to, 417 

Brewster, Gilbert, wool spinning- 
wheel invented by, 366 

Brewster, Jonathan, 13 

Bridgeport, evening schools in, 216; 
Trade School in, 216; Golden Hill 
Seminary at, 222; free High School 
in, 224; first free public library in, 
227; population of, 548; increase in 
value, 549; 483 

Protestant Orphan Asylum es- 
tablished, 482 

Brigham, Dr., at Utica Asylum, 465 

Brighton, 9 

Bristol, Mount Hope in, 47; copper 
mine in, 192; free High School in, 
224 

British leave the Sound, 334 

Brock, Major-General Isaac, British 
commander, 331 ; quoted, 331 ; Hull 
surrenders to, 332 

Brookfield, Bay Path through, 249 

Brookline, 9 



Index 



569 



Brooklyn, Godfrey Malborne of, 155; 
academy in, 222 ; men enlisted at, 

383 

Brothertoft, Edwin, by Winthrop, 508 
Brown, John, hero of Harper's Ferry, 

379 

Brown, Samuel, first chaise owned by, 

254 

Brown, Stephen, among Knowlton's 
Rangers, 289 

Brown, Theron, a writer, 508 

Brown, Tutor, 232 

Browne, John D., Secretary Connec- 
ticut Fire Insurance Co., 402 

Brownell, Bishop, president Washing- 
ton College, 241 ; reference to the 
consecration of, 241; Ives' statue 

of, 519 , , 

Brownell, Charles D., a landscape 
painter, 521 

Brownell, Henry Howard, war poems 
by, quoted, 506, 507; works of, 507 

Brownell Hall built, 241 

Brush, George J., director Scientific 
School, 238 

Buchanan, Connecticut votes for, 
380 

Buck, Dudley, a composer, 533; 
career of, 533 ; death of, 534 

Buchingham, Governor, statue of, 
522 

Buckingham, William A., in charge 
Haywood Rubber Co., 361; pro- 
clamation to militia from, 381 ; con- 
tributes to reform school, 448 

Bucknell, Stephen C, maker of locks, 
360 

Buell, Abel, makes first lapidary ma- 
chine, 192; establishes type foundry, 
194, 313; starts cotton factory, 314; 
dies made by, 318 

Buell, Mrs. Mary T., gives home to 
reform school, 459 

Buffalo, conference with Indians at, 
204 

Bugbee, Jr., Thomas, pottery works 
started by, 309 

Bulfinch State House, lottery to 
erect, 372 

Bulkley, E. A., president Mtna, Life, 
409 

Bulkley, Gershom, 99; makes a mill 
pond, 109; paper written by, 152 

Bulkley, John, revision of laws by, 

273 
Bulkley School in Meriden, 224 
Bull in procession to Connecticut, 12 
Bull, Captain Thomas, in command at 



Saybrook, 173; resists Andros, 174; 
heads Connecticut troops, 178 

Bull Run, Connecticut troops at, 
383 

Bunce, Admiral Francis M., from 
Connecticut, 386 

Bunce, Jonathan, son-in-law of San- 
ford, 59 

Bunce, Sarah, daughter of Sanford, 

59 
Bunch of Grapes Tavern, a famous 

tavern, 255, 256 
Bunker Hill, Yale men officers at, 235; 

reference to, 259; ammunition for 

battle of, 284; fortifying of, 285 
Bureau of Equipment and Recruiting, 

Foote ordered to, 387 

of Vital Statistics, report of, 549 

Burgoyne, surrender of, referred to, 

259, 287 
Burt, E., loom invented by, 366 
Busch, Julius, Brownell a pupil of, 

521 
Bushnell, C. S., helps Ericsson, 387; 

letter to Welles from, 388; becomes 

Ericsson's partner, 388 
Bushnell, David, a Yale man, 235; 

invents marine torpedo, 292 
Bushnell, Dr. Caleb, bill of, quoted, 

114 
Bushnell, Horace, quoted, 371; a 

theologist, 505; works of, 505 
yBussaker, Peter, imprisoned for a 

joke, 102 
Butler, Dr. J. A., in charge Boston 

Asylum, 465 
Butler, Frederick, general history by, 

Butler, John, wipes out Westmore- 
land, 201 
Butterfield tortured by Pequots, 39 
Byers Hall, Y. M. C. A. headquarters, 

239 
Byram River, western boundary of 
Connecticut, 174 



Cabot, George, 337 

Cadwell, Thomas, licensed ferry-man, 

260 
Caldwell, John, forms insurance com- 
pany, 393; offices held by, 394; 
president insurance company, 395 
Calhoun, John C, quoted, 303 
California, slavery question in, 378 
Cambridge, 9; taxes for building in, 
10; petition made by congregation 



570 



Index 



Cambridge {Continued) 

at, 1 1 ; regicide judges escape from, 

165; path through, 249; 554 
Platform governs for sixty 

years, 129 

Synod, 130 

Camp, 391 

Canaan, 198; land granted in, 232 
Canada, expeditions to, 123, 178, 318 
Canandaigua, insurance agency in, 

396 
Canonchet, chief of Narragansetts, 48 
Canonicus, chief of the Narragansetts, 

31 

Canterbury, given to Mason, 25; 

negro school started in, 162; law 

against negro school in, 162; 

border war with Plainfield, 197; 

town meeting held in, 198; Cleave- 

land goes to, 203 
Cape Cod, 176 
Carnegie Institute, Gilman president 

of, 247 
Carriages, first, in Connecticut, 109 
Carrington, John, and wife, hanged, 

Carter, Franklin, a president of 

Williams, 247 
Carteret, Philip, governor of East 

Jersey, 205 
Case, Newton, gift of, 244 
Cathedral of Notre Dame, school of, 

in Waterbury, 224 
Cecil Dreeme, by Winthrop, 508 
Census Bureau, report of, 548 
Centennial Meditations of Columbia, 

set to music, 533 
Center Church, clock in, 357 
Cerberus, British ship, 292 
Challenge, Christian, a bill to, 114 
Chamberlain, 391 
Champion, Col. Henry, given money 

for army, 284; drives cattle to Valley 

Forge, 285 
Champion, Epaphroditus, drives cat- 
tle to Valley Forge, 285 
Chandler, William, intercedes for 

Daggett, 234 
Channing, William Ellery, Flagg's 

portrait of, 519 
Chapin, Andrew, president Beloit 

College, 246 
Chapman, Sarah, arrest of, 443 
Charles I., death of, referred to, 164; 

reference to fall of, 277 
Charles II., 58; Connecticut votes 

allegiance to, 77; grants to his 

brother, 80, 200; crowning of, re- 



ferred to, 164; Connecticut ac- 
knowledges, 166; gives liberal 
patent to Connecticut, 166; death 
of, 167; reference to, 212; charter 
of, 282; Leland attacks charter of, 
343; 556 
Charles River, property on, 11 
Charleston, slaves for, 156; Foote 

ordered to, 387; Terry at, 389 
Charlestown makes offers to settlers, 

17 

Charlton, Bay Path through, 249 

Charter, Randolph demands Con- 
necticut, 168 et seq; spirited away 
and hidden, 170; Connecticut's, 
resumed, 172 

Charter Oak, work of Brownell, 521 

Charter Oak Life Insurance Co., 
formed, 408; failure of, 408 

Chase, George L., president of in- 
surance company, 397 

Chastellux in military conference, 292 

Chatfield, 391 

Chatham, bell-making in, 360; Stan- 
cliff born in, 519 

Chauncey, Captain Isaac, serves in 
war, 333 

Chauncy, Rev. Isaac, declines college 
presidency, 229 

Cheesborough, William, settles Ston- 
ington, 22 

Chelmsford, disaster in, 49 

Cheney, Frank, starts silk industry, 

364 
Cheney, Ralph, starts silk industry, 

364 

Cheney, Seth, crayon artist, 518 

Cheshire, 18; silkworms on farm at, 
193; college started at, 240; State 
Reformatory at, 453 

Chicago, great fire, 397; Hubbard 
agent in, 399; merchants ruined 
by, fire, 401 ; fire losses at, 403 

Children's Home, at New Britain, 481 ; 
in Stamford, 482 

China, first ship to, 204 

Chippewa, Porter at, 334 

Chittenden, Ebenezer, invents card 
teeth cutting machine, 315 

Chittenden, Russell H., director 
Scientific School, 238 

Choate, Rufus, quoted, 177 

Christaensen, Blok meets, 5 

Christian Freeman, anti-slavery news- 
paper, 377 

Christian Nature, by Bushnell, 505 

Church, Dr. Benjamin, imprisoned 
in Newgate, 296 



Index 



571 



Church, Frederick E., career of, 521; 
works of, 521 

Church, the early, in Connecticut, 
119 ff.; contention in the, 123 

- — — of England, services of, barred 
in Connecticut, 139 

Cincinnati, Protection agency in, 400; 
^tna office in, 400 

Music Festival, Buck connected 

with, 533 

Order of Connecticut, suspicious 

of, 307 

City Fire Insurance Co., the Orient 
succeeds, 403 

Clap, Thomas, succeeds Rector Wil- 
liams, 232; fines collected by, 233; 
denounces Whitefield's teaching, 
233; prejudices people against 
Yale, 233 ; death of, 234 ; establishes 
college church at Yale, 274 

Clarendon, Lord, referred to, 78 

Clark, Daniel, Wolcott writes of, 99 

Clark, Laban, starts Wesleyan Uni- 
versity, 242 

Clark Institute, of Northampton, 474 

Clarke, Sir Caspar Purdon, praises 
Church, 521 

Clay, Henry, Shumway's protrait of, 
5i8 

Cleaveland, founding of, 204 

Cleaveland, Moses, agent for Ohio 
lands, 203; becomes famous law- 
yer, 203; has conference with Red 
Jacket, 204; founds Cleaveland, 
204; reference to, 310 

Clemens, Samuel L., "Mark Twain," 
Gilded Age, by, 508; works of, 509 

Clere, Laurent, comes to America, 
472 

Cleveland, Ebenezer, suspended from 
college, 271 

Cleveland, John, suspended from 
Yale, 271 

Clio, by Percival, 502 

Cloyne, Bishop of, contributions to 
Yale from, 232 

Codes of Civil and Criminal Procedure, 
by Field, Jr., 513 

Cogswell, Dr. Mason F., starts 
school for deaf, 472 

Cogswell, Mason, one of "Hartford 
Wits," 498 

Coit, John, first shipbuilder, 189 

Coke, witchcraft in time of, 145 

Colchester, dispute over land in, 24; 
Bacon Academy at, 22 1 ; Haywood 
Rubber Company in, 361; Bartho- 
lemew born in, 520 



Cole, Ann, a religious melancholiac, 

148; marriage of, 148 
Cole, Nathan, quoted, 267 
Cole, Thomas, Church a pupil of, 521 
Colebrook, Owen a native of, 246 
College of Dental Surgery opened in 
Baltimore, 247 

of the City of New York, Owen 

member of, 246 
Collegiate School, charter for a, 229 
"Collegiate School" established, 208 
Collins, the three, brothers, 206; 

brothers build Collinsville, 206 
Collinsville established by Connecti- 
cut men, 206 
Colonial Records, Ludlow's code in, 

Colt, Elisha, treasurer Saving Society, 

322 
Colt, Peter, gives money for army, 

284 
Colt, Samuel, patents revolver, 362 ' 
Columbia, church trial in, 265; John 

Smalley born in, 275 
College, Johnsons founders of, 

246 
Commerce, a whaler, 313 
Commission on Public Service Cor- 
porations appointed, 418 
Common Council, 547 

Pleas, Court of, established, 86 

Compensation Act passed, 413 
Conant, Shubal, refuses to witness 

ceremony, 280 
Concord, pioneers from, 21; views of 

battle at, 192; Alcott settles in, 

505 

Concord Days, by Alcott, 505 
Concord School of Philosophy, Alcott 

dean of, 505 
Cone, C. O., professor in dental 

college, 248 
Confederacy, war frigate, 292 
Congregational Church, Book of 
Discipline explains, 131; the es- 
tablished church, 131, 136 
Congress, Kilburn goes to, 205; sends 
Deane to Paris, 287; bad repre- 
sentation at, 297; Johnson a mem- 
ber of, 298; petition from Pennsyl- 
vania to, 308; issues paper money, 
322; passes Force Act, 335; Hart- 
ford committee goes to, 337 
Congress, burning of the, 388 ' 
Congressional Library, Warner makes 

door for, 522 
Connecticut, description of, 1 ff.; 
wealth of, 1 ; volcanic trap in, 2 ; 



572 



Index 



Connecticut (Continued) 

markings of Glacial Age in, 3; 
brick supply of, 3 ; granite quarries 
of, 3 ; sandstone in, 3 ; iron mines of, 
3; the settling of, 4; Indians tell 
Pilgrims of, 5; Pilgrims receive, 
from Uncas, 6; lures people of 
Massachusetts, 7; procession again 
starts for, 1 1 ; party sets out for, 1 1 ; 
beginning of agricultural life in, 
1 1 ; appoints Hopkins a commis- 
sioner, 15; appoints Winthrop, 15; 
conflict in, 15; Pequot country 
saved for, 16; buying and settling 
of towns in, 20 ff.; migration to 
Newark from, 21; Stonington be- 
comes part of, 22; Indian inhabi- 
tants of, 28^.; an Indian country, 
35; Court meets to decide fate of, 
40; meeting of Court of, 44; Sas- 
sacus's scalp sent to, 45; treaty 
with Indians and, 46; furnishes 
men to fight, 48; death of three, 
captains, 48; time of dread in, 49; 
government for, 53; Massachusetts 
recognizes, 54; government insti- 
tuted for, 55; severs political 
dependence with Massachusetts, 55, 
under own rule, 55 et seq.; copies 
Massachusetts government, 56, 90; 
Pynchon supplies corn to, 56; mak- 
ing of government of, 61 ; laws and 
rules for, 62; freedom of "Orders" 
in, 65 ; early government in, 65 ff. ; 
scanty hospitality of, 67; suffrage 
in, 68; Haynes governor of, 72; 
admirers of laws of, 73 ; boundaries 
of, 77; votes allegiance to King, 77; 
claims Mystic and Stonington, 78; 
claims Westchester, 78; towns ask 
admission to, 78; New Haven 
remonstrates with, 78; New Haven 
refuses to recognize government of, 
79; New Haven sends paper to, 80; 
pays no attention to New Haven's 
paper, 80; New Haven joins, 80; 
formation of courts in, 81 ff.; 
earliest offices in, 88 ; Ludlow leaves, 
91; new era in, 91; laws rest on 
those of England, 92; Mosaic code 
not adopted in, 92; statute passed 
in, 92; "Blue Laws" in, 93 et sea.; 
few changes in, 93 ; Peters's spiteful 
history of, 94 et seq.; laws of, 95 
et seq.; distinguished lawyers 
from, 97; Ellsworth represents, in 
Senate, 97; Swift's treatise on laws 
of, 97; leader in lawmaking, 98; 



enacts "Practice Act," 98; mar- 
riage laws of, 98; Fenwick presents 
seal to, 99; lives of first people in, 
101 ff.; few Pilgrims in, 101; early 
lives of people in, 101; people who 
settled in, 101; seventeenth cen- 
tury in, 103; description of early 
houses in, 104 ff.; food of early 
people in, 106 ff.; early carriages in, 
109; Mason first officer in, no; 
titles in early days of, no; products 
of early, no; fashions of early, 
in et seq.; early furniture in, 112; 
first almanac in, 113; first printing- 
press in, 114; first artificial light in, 
114; candle-making in, 115; mak- 
ing of cloth in, 115; wolf hunts in, 
117 et seq.; many disturbances 
for inhabitants of, 123; fever for 
land in, 123; democratism in, 124; a 
Sunday meeting in, 126; religious 
requirements in, 128; loss of fran- 
chise in, 129; liberal policy of, 130; 
people of, offended by church 
affairs, 133; voluntary support of 
religion in, 134; religious character 
of, 135; Rous testifies for, 139; 
law against Quakers in, annulled, 
139; dislike for Baptists in, 139; 
Church of England services barred 
in, 139; anxious at movement to 
appoint a bishop, 140; Samuel 
Seabury first bishop of, 141; dis- 
satisfaction at established church 
of, 141; witchcraft in 1662 in, 147; 
close of witchcraft in, 153; number 
executed in, 153; slaves kept in, 
155; number of slaves in, 156; 
slave trade prohibited in, 161; at- 
tempt at negro schools in, 161; 
acknowledges authority of Charles 
II., 166; given liberal patent by 
Charles II., 166; charter of, quoted, 
166; charter received in, 167; gov- 
ernment formed by charter in, 167; 
writs served on, 168 et seq.; Ran- 
dolph threatens, 168; anxiety over 
writs in, 169; letter written by 
officials of, 170; Andros's governing 
of, 171 ff.; boundary dispute with 
New York, 172 et seq.; settling of 
boundaries of, 172 et seq.; re- 
sumes old government, 1 72 ; bound- 
ary agreement between New York 
and, quoted, 173; boundaries de- 
cided on, 174; loses Rye, 174; 
conference between, and New 
York, 174; more boundary disputes 



Ind 



ex 



573 



Connecticut (Continued) 

in, 175; Massachusetts gets some 
of, 176; and Massachusetts com- 
promise, 176; claims Narragansett 
country, 177; contention of, con- 
firmed, 178; New York asks for, 
troops, 178; in expedition against 
Canada, 1 78 ; troops defend Albany, 
178; Fletcher commissioned to 
command militia of, 178; king 
approves action of, 179; charter of, 
attacked, 180; Ashurst represents, 
180; charges made against, 180; 
Dudley calls to, for aid, 180; pop- 
ulation of, 181; leagues with other 
colonies, 181 et seq.; trade in, 
185^.; captains in slave trade, 188; 
mining interests in, 190 ff.; forges 
and iron works in, 192; tobacco- 
growing in, 192; silkworms in, 193; 
Gov. Law wears first silk, 193; 
first type foundry in, 194; descrip- 
tion of, to English, 195 ff.; land 
given to, 199; the, grant, 199; 
Westmoreland's deputies in, legis- 
lature, 200; tract in Ohio given 
to, 203; people from, in Western 
Reserve, 204; Wisconsin governors 
from, 205; school system estab- 
lished in, 207; first schools in, 207; 
school districts in, 209; the School 
Fund in, 210; provisions for educa- 
tion in, 216; first geography pub- 
lished in, 219; academies started in, 
221 ff.; Roman Catholic schools 
in, 224; history of Trinity College 
in, 240; bishop of, referred to, 241; 
third college in, 242; woman's 
college to start in, 243; influence 
of, on colleges, 245 ff. ; Indian trail 
from Boston to, 249; first road in, 
250; legislature votes for road, 252; 
horses in, 254; "sleys" in, 254; 
first turnpikes in, 258; religious 
unrest in, 265 ff. ; the currency of, 
265, 266; church rights in, 274; 
theologians from, 275; leaders in 
home missions, 275; Grenville 
praises, "Reasons," 280; volunteers 
follow Putnam, 284; helps army 
at Valley Forge, 284; troops first 
in New York, 286; critical position 
of, 287; some of the, martyrs, 289; 
and the navy, 291; war frigates 
built in, 291; number of, men in 
war, 292; released from allegiance 
to crown, 292; Tories in, 294; re- 
presented at convention, 298; 



merged in the government, 304; 
influence of, on Constitution, 305; 
loses Westmoreland, 308; land 
grant to, 308; printing introduced 
into, 311; whaling port in, 312; 
competition between Nantucket 
and, 313; becomes a manufacturing 
State, 314 ff.; first broadcloth made 
in, 315; money situation in, 317; 
coppers coined in, 318; paper 
liquidated by, 320; land taxed in, 
323; taxation in, 323; delegates 
from, 336; political freedom in, 342; 
increase in population of, 354; in- 
dustries in, 356; wage-earners in, 
356; hat industry in, 357; manu- 
facture of pins in, 358; bronze 
products made in, 358; tinware 
industry in, 359; machine screws 
manufactured in, 359; metal-work- 
ing in, 359, 360; rubber industry 
started in, 360; bell-making in, 360; 
lockmaking in, 360; firearms manu- 
factured in, 361; rubbers made in, 
361 ; sewing-machines manufactured 
in, 362; woolen industries in, 362; 
cotton thread made in, 363; hard- 
ware industry in, 364; silk industry 
in, 364; patents issued to inventors, 
366; home missions organized in, 
370; troops called for, 381; regi- 
ments from, 385; prominent men 
in navy from, 386; steamboats 
started in, 414; canals built in, 415; 
railroads started in, 416; street 
cars begun in, 419; residence law in, 
422; citizen law in, 428; board of 
health started in, 431; almshouses 
in, 433; tramp question in, 434; 
first house of correction in, 438; 
jails ordered for every county in, 
438; punishments of early, 443^.; 
horse stealing in, 444; death pen- 
alty in, 444, 446; imprisonment for 
debt in, 447; school agent in, 449; 
prison support in, 455; care of the 
insane in, 461, 465, 469; care of 
deaf in, 473; care of blind in, 
474 ff- : idiots in, 476 ff. ; laws for 
sale of liquor in, 486 ff. ; the begin- 
ning of art in, 514; early music in, 
525, 526; early clothes in, 537; 
early life of people, 538; farmers' 
tools in, 539; tobacco grown in, 542 
ff.; fruit grown in, 543; number of 
cities in, 548; population of, 548; 
manufacturers in, 549; unrest in 
cities of, 550 ff. 



574 



Index 



Connecticut Agricultural Station, 

reports of, 542 
Anti-Slavery Society formed, 

375 
"Connecticut Asylum for Deaf and 

Dumb," 472 
Bridge Co., Morgan president 

of. 394 
Colony for Epileptics organized, 

478 
Connecticut Common School Journal 

founded, 214 
" Connecticut Compromise " adopted, 

303 

Connecticut constitution, 306 
Connecticut Courant started, 311 
Connecticut, Episcopal Academy of, 

at Cheshire, 223 
Fire Insurance Co. organized, 

402 
Connecticut Gazette, advertisement 

from, quoted, 158; pioneer paper, 

3" 

Connecticut General Life Insurance 
Co. chartered, 408 

Gore Land Company, 201 et seq. 

Hall erected, 232 

Health Insurance formed, 407 

Historical Society, remains of 

Dutch fort in, 7; Strong's portrait 
at the, 516 

Home Missionary Society or- 
ganized, 369 

Institute for Blind, 475 

Invalid Home for Drunkards, 

491 

Literary Institute in Suffield, 

22 3 

Connecticut Mirror, Prentice editor 

of, 505 

Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance 
Co., helps insurance men, 397; 
formed, 405; refuses to adopt Ton- 
tine principle, 406; Greene presi- 
dent of, 407 

Connecticut Prison Association, Pris- 
oners' Friends called, 453 

Connecticut Reformatory Home for 
Drunkards, 491 

Regiment, First, reaches Wash- 
ington, 382; Second, Terry in 
command of, 382; Third, goes to 
battle, 382 

Religious Tract Society formed, 

370 

Republicans, 344 

River, first navigator of, 4; 

Oldham sets out to explore, 5; 



Holmes starts for, 5; Winslow in- 
vestigates stories of, 5 ; Amsterdam 
vessels on, 5; fort erected at 
mouth of, 14; Sassacus's outrages 
on, 45; four districts on, 53, et seq.; 
Ludlow's early days on, 75; ferries 
on, 261; bridge built across, 261; 
canal to, 415; 554 

School for Boys, reform school 

called, 449 

Silk Society incorporated, 314 

State Reformatory, donations 

for, 452 ; opening of the, 453 

Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's 
Court, A, by "Mark Twain," 509 

Conquest of Canaan, The, by Tim- 
othy Dwight, 500 

Consociation, a covenant of com- 
munion between churches, 135 

Consolidated Company becomes cor- 
poration, 417 

Constellation, guns of the, 192 

Constitution, guns on the, 192; wins 
naval battle, 333 

Constitution of United States ratified, 
350 

Continental Congress, Johnson mem- 
ber of, 246; delegates to, 281; 
Sherman member of, 298 

Iron Works, "iron battery" 

made at, 388 

Life Insurance Co., rise and fall 

of the, 408 

Convocation, House of, formed, 241 

Cook, Aaron, on building committee, 

59 

Cooke, Rose Terry, a favorite writer, 

508 
Copeland, John, a Quaker preacher, 

138 
Copley, pupil of Blackburn, 515 
Coral Grove, The, by Percival, quoted, 

502 
Cornbury, Gov., complaints against 

Connecticut by, 180 
Cornwall, in Litchfield County, 189; 

land granted in, 232 
Cornwallis, Lord, surrenders to Lin- 
coln, 292; reference to surrender of, 

308, 330 
"Corte," organization of a, 81 
Cotton, John, travels with Hooker, 8; 

referred to, 10, 75, 131 
Council of Safety, sends ammunition, 

284; sends money to Valley Forge, 

284 
County Commissioner added to County 

Court, 85 



lnd 



ex 



575 



County Court, meets at New Haven, 
60; jurisdiction of, 85; established 
in each county, 85; abandoned, 85; 

s probate powers given to, 87; mar- 
shals appointed by, 88; petition 
to, for highway, 259 

Court of New London, record of, 

quoted, 443 

Courier- Journal, Prentice with the, 
505 

Court, General, establishing of, 22 

of Magistrates, establishing of, 

21 

Plantation, establishing of, 21 

of Probate investigates drunk- 
ard, 491 

Coventry, Great Awakening in, 267 

Crandall, Prudence, opens school for 
negro girls, 161 et scq.; protests 
against negro school of, 162; boy- 
cotted for negro school, 162; 
arrest of, 162; disbands negro 
school, 163; pension voted to, 163 

Creed, John W., 379 

Critical Moment, A, work of G. 
Trumbull, 521 

Croffut quoted, 391 

Cromwell, orphanage at, 483; home 
for nervous at, 485 

Cromwell, Oliver, Ludlow serves 
under, 91; referred to, 102, 164 

Cuff, Governor, a negro, 160 

Cumberland, sinking of the, 388 

Cummings, Joseph, improvements 
at Wesleyan under, 243 

Cummings, Thomas S., a water-color 
painter, 518 

Curler, Jacob van, commander of 
Dutch fort, 6 

Curtis, William, settles Woodbury, 

Curtis Home, the, at Meridcn, 482 

Cushman, George H., miniature paint- 
er, 520 

Cutler, Manasseh, influence used in 
Ordinance, 203; works of, 226 

Cutler, Timothy, goes to England for 
ordination, 141; Rector of Yale 
College, 141, 232-, 

Cuyahoga River, expedition lands at, 
204 



D 



Daboll, Nathan, arithmetic books 

by, 220, 503 
Daggett, David, professor of law at 

Yale, 237 



Daggett, Naphtali, succeeds Clap 
as president, 234; Chandler inter- 
cedes for, 234; captured by British, 
234; death of, 234 

Dairymen's Association, 540 

Damrosch Symphony, Sanford con- 
nected with, 535 

Dana, James Dwight, a geologist, 237, 

Danbury, settlement of, 25; normal 
school at, 216; evening schools in, 
216; Hickock a native of, 246; 
Tryon attacks, 290; hats manu- 
factured in, 356 ff. 

Academy incorporated, 222 

Home, for destitute children, 

482 

Dane, Nathan, supposed author of 
Ordinance, 203 

Darien, in Connecticut boundary, 
175 

Darling, Thomas, manufacturer of 
window glass, 193 

Dartmouth College, Indian school 
foundation of, 52; started by 
Connecticut man, 245; graduates 
of, 245 

Dartmouth, Lord, contributes to 
school, 52 

Davenport, John, head of settlers, 17; 
plans for church, 18 et seq.; one of 
pillars of church, 19; disappointed 
at union of Connecticut and New 
Haven, 80; a slaveowner, 155; con- 
ceals judges, 165; draws rules for 
school, 207; tries to get a New 
Haven college, 228 

Davenport, Rev. James, reference to, 
270 

Davie, Sir John, sends books for 
college, 229 

Davison, Peter, a Norwich idiot, 461 

Day, George E., of the Divinity 
School, 236 

Day, Jeremiah, added to Yale's 
faculty, 235; Dwight's successor, 
236 

Deaf, School for, Wadsworth founder 

of, 394 
Deane, Silas, delegate to Congress, 

281; one of "committee," 283; 

letter of, quoted, 286; sent to Paris 

for supplies, 287 
Dearborn, General, reference to, 331, 

336 
Deep River, St. John's Industrial 

School at, 483 
Deerfield, disasters in, 49 



576 



Index 



Defoe, reference to, 221 

Delaware River, settlements on the, 
200; Fitch's boat on the, 313 

Democratic-Republican party, re- 
cruits of the, 344 

Dennis, Jared, sons of, enlist, 382 

Denton, Rev. Richard, leads settlers, 
21 

Derby, negro" ceremonies move to, 
160; iron works in, 192; manufac- 
ture of pins in, 358 

Desborough, Samuel, leads settlers, 
20 

Detroit, Hull sends supplies to, 331; 
Hull reaches, 332; passes into 
Brock's hands, 332 

Devonshire, Davie's books collected 
in, 229 

Dexter referred to, 274 

Dialogue on Slavery, by Hopkins, 

Dick, General Putnam frees, 157 
Dickenson, Daniel, a painter, 518 
Dickenson, Samuel, a brickmaker, 

109 
Dickinson, Anson, miniature painter, 

5i6 
Dilworth speller, an early schoolbook, 

219 
Dimmock, Shubael, clothes for, 288 
Disborough, Mercy, convicted of 

witchcraft, 153 
Dispatch, Holmes nearly sinks the, 

334 

Divinity School established at Yale, 
236 

Dixon, Jeremiah, one of pillars of 
church, 19 

Dixwell, Colonel John, one of the 
regicide judges, 164 

Doane, George W, on Washington 
faculty, 241 

Dolphin, New London's ship, 186 

Donelson, Fort, Foote's capture of, 
386 

Dorchester, discontent in, 7; 9; or- 
ganizes town government, 10; re- 
ceives installment from Windsor, 1 1 ; 
signs treaty with Plymouth people, 
14; changed to Windsor, 56; 554 

Dover, Bradstreet's trip to, 249 

Drake, Albert W., enlists as volun- 
teer, 382 

Drake, Francis, gift to Hooker from, 8 

Draper, Professor, first daguerreo- 
type by, 517 

Drew, Daniel, indorses bond, 388 
Dublin, Ludlow returns to, 91 



Dudley, settlers take path through, 1 1 ; 
Path through, 249 

Dudley, David, 513 

Dudley, Gov., complaints against 
Connecticut by, 180; calls to Con- 
necticut for aid, 180 

Dummer, Fort, 199 

Dupont, Admiral, Foote ordered to 
supersede, 387 

Duportail in military conference, 292 

Durham, Moses Austin born in, 204; 
academy in, 223; Great Awaken- 
ing in, 267 

Durkee, Major John, forces Inger- 
soll to resign, 281 

Durrie, George H., a farm scene 
painter, 520 

Dutch, hostilities of, and English 
farmers, 6 et seq.; Sequasson testi- 
fies in court against the, 6; vessel 
tries to enter Connecticut, 14; 
the meddlesome, 181 

Duyckink, Evert, reference to, 7 

Dwight Hall completed, 239 

Dwight, Theodore, secretary of 
organization, 337; leader of Fed- 
erals, 345; one of "Hartford Wits," 
498 

Dwight, Timothy, private school run 
by, 221 ; fines dispensed with under, 
233; inauguration of, 235; abolishes 
fines, 235; buys land, 235; starts 
Medical School, 236; Hadley 
succeeds, 239; referred to, 274, 
344, 368; sermons in New Haven 
by, 275; quoted, 293, 309; ser- 
mons of, 369; one of "Hartford 
Wits," 498; Travels in New Eng- 
land, by, 500; hymns by, 500; 
Conquest of Canaan, by, 500; 
author, 512 

Dyer, Eliphalet, refuses to witness 
ceremony, 280; delegate to Con- 
gress, 281 



E 



Eagle, Lord Howe's flagship, 292 
Eagle Lock Company formed, 360 
Earl, Ralph, a miniature painter, 

515 

Earth-bound, work by Potter, 522 
East Haddam, 24, 240; Griffin a 

native of, 247; Cone a native of, 

248; bell-making in, 360 
Hartford, 24; Podunks in, 29; 

pays for bridge, 261 
Haven, 18 



Index 



577 



East Haddam, Jersey, Carteret gov- 
ernor of, 205 

Windsor, 24 ; Windsor overflows 

into, 24; Podunks live in, 29; 
convention held at, 244; Theologi- 
cal Institute at, 244; Edwards 
born in, 275; Fitch born in, 313; 
theological school at, 370 

Easton, Captain, in the slave trade, 
156 

Eaton, Theophilus, head of settle- 
ment, 17; explores land, 17; one of 
pillars of church, 19; elected gov- 
ernor, 19; 22; prevents bloodshed 
in New Haven, 153; regicide judges 
concealed by, 165; on commission 
board, 183; 555 

Echo, continuation of Anarchiad, 
499; epics in the, 500 

Edwards, Jonathan, preaches of 
customs, 125 et seq.; deplores 
school conditions, 214; sermons 
preached by, 266; sermon of, 
quoted, 267; 275; pastor in New 
Haven, 276; on slavery question, 
376; 496; writes of Indians, 512; 
theological writings of, 512 

Edwards, Jr., Jonathan, against slave 
trade, 160; at anti-slavery con- 
vention, 376 

Edwards, Pierpont, leader Connec- 
ticut Republicans, 344; calls meet- 
ing, 347; defends Republicans, 
347; at convention, 350 

Edwards, Rev. Timothy, of East 
Windsor, 124 et seq.; father of 
Jonathan, 266 

Elder, office of ruling, abolished, 134 

Elderkin, silkworm cultivated by, 364 

Elderkin, Goodman, reference to, 
124 

Eldredge, Isabella, Eldredge Library 
supported by, 227 

Eldredge, John B., secretary Con- 
necticut Insurance Co., 402 

Eldredge Library, richly endowed, 227 

Eliot, John, preaches to Indians, 50 

Elizabeth, witchcraft in reign of, 146; 
music in days of, 525 

Ellington, 24 

Elliot, John, manufacturer of pitch, 

193 

Ellsworth, Chief Justice, quoted, 108 
Ellsworth, Col., death at Alexandria 

of, 384 „ , 

Ellsworth, Judge, Earl paints por- 
trait of, 515 

Ellsworth, Oliver, 73; a Connecticut 

37 



lawyer, 97; represents Connecticut 
in Senate, 97; influenced by 
Smalley, 275; Connecticut delegate, 
298; urges compromise, 302; ad- 
dresses convention, 304; chosen to 
Senate, 304; referred to, 554 

Ellsworth, Pinckney W., starts life 
insurance, 404 

Ellsworth, William W., succeeds Wil- 
liams, 395; president of the Pro- 
tection, 400 

Emerson, 504 

Emerson School, in Wethersfield, 223 

Emmons, Admiral George F., 292 

Emmons, Nathanael, teacher of 
ministers, 274, 275 

Endicott, Captain, sent to avenge 
murder, 38 ; burns Pequot wigwams, 

39 

Endicott, Mary, married to Ludlow, 

74 

Enfield, disputed lands m, 176; 
Adams writes of, landlord, 256; 
Pease born in, 257; Edwards's ser- 
mon in, 266; Shakers form colony 
in, 278; Terry born in, 519 

Falls, Pynchon settles near, 

53 

Rapids, Blok reaches, 4 

England, Mosaic code in, 92; Peters 

goes to, 94; Pilgrims renounce 

Church of, 101; ministers go to, 

141; Hartford trades with, 186; 

school system of, adopted, 207, 208; 

injurious treatment of, 330; at war 

with Napoleon, 330 
Church of, taxes of members of, 

141 
English, hostility of, and Dutch 

farmers, 6 et seq. ; Sequasson testifies 

for, 6; much owed to Indians by, 

36 et seq. 
Acts of Trade applied to 

colonies, 187 
Episcopal Academy of Connecticut 

at Cheshire, 223 
Church, college started under, 

240 
Episcopalians, 137; persecution of the, 

141; allowed to build in Stratford, 

141; Yale men become ministers, 

141 ; influence of Great Awakening 

on, 274 
Episcopate, American movement in 

behalf of, 139, 140; American, 

established, 141 et seq. 
Equivalent Tract, New York given 

the, 175 



578 



Index 



Ericsson, John, designer of the Moni- 
tor, 387 

Erie Canal, scheme to rival the, 415 

Essex, on a glacial sand plain, 3; 
settlers come from, 20 

Europe, killing of witches in, 145; 
number of persecutions in, 146; 
machinery from, 356 

Evarts, William M, editor of maga- 
zine, 239 

Evening schools in Connecticut, 216 

Eve Repentant, work of Bartholemew, 
520 

Exodus xxii., persecution of witches 
authorized in, 145 

Experiment, the steamboat, 414 

"Extent and Power of Political 
Delusions," Bishop's address, 345 



F 



Fair Haven, 483 

Fair Haven and Westville Co. char- 
tered, 419 

Fair Oaks, Sedgwick at, 390 

Fairfax, Sir John, referred to, 40 

Fairfield, Ludlow settles in, 2 1 ; 
uninhabited, '29; made a county, 84; 
Common Pleas Court in, 86; one 
of consociations in, 135; Goodwife 
Knap of, 147; center of witchcraft 
rage, 152 et seq.; becomes a lawful 
port, 187; educational law in, 208; 
Staples Academy in, 221; Tryon 
destroys, 291 ; many Tories in, 294; 
care of children in, 436; women 
help poor children, 448; Female 
Beneficent Society in, 479 

County, Seventeenth Regiment 

from, 385 

Falls Village, shot made in, 365 

Family Protection, watchword for 

' Guarantee Fund, 405 

Farero, Bartholemew a pupil of, 
520 

Farmington, skeleton found in, 2; 
incorporated, 22 ; Indian school in, 
51; meeting-house in, 104; 125; 
Mary Barnes of, 149; girls' school in, 
222; Hart school in, 223; 227; John 
Hart of, 230; asks for highway, 
259; contributes men, 385; citizens 
meet at, 415 

Canal Company chartered, 415 

River, Holmes lands at mouth 

of, 6; Tunxis Indians on, 29; 
Litchfield watered by the, 198 

Valley Mutual, 403 



Farragut, Admiral, Brownell with, 

506 
Father of Foreign Missions, Mills 

called, 275 
"Father of the American Navy," 

Deane called, 291 
Fayal, shipments to, 188 
Fayerweather Hall elected, 239 
Federal, influence of, party, 347; 

leaders attack Republicans, 347 
Constitution, reference to, 297 ; 

ratified, 304 
Federalists, views of, 299; renewed 

trade welcomed by, 336; party in 

Connecticut, 342 
Fenwick, George, cedes home to up- 
river colony, 15; goes to Saybrook, 

15; serves Connecticut, 16; presents 

seal to Connecticut, 99 
Fessenden, Rev. T. F., helps girls' 

reformatory, 450 
Field, David Dudley, praises "Prac- 
tice Act," 98; father of famous 

family, 513 
Field, Jr., David Dudley, civil law 

works by, 513 
Fillmore, Connecticut votes for, 380 
Finney, Charles G., president of 

Oberlin, 247 
Fire Lands, or the Sufferers 1 Lands, 

213; sold for school funds, 213 
First Connecticut Cavalry, services 

of, 390 
First Lessons in Latin, by Andrews, 

220 
First Reinsurance Company char- 
tered, 413 
Fisher, George P., of the Divinity 

School, 236 
Fisher, Fort, Terry captures, 389 
Fisher's Island Sound, southern 

boundary through, 175 
Fishkill, railroad to, 417 
Fisk, Wilbur, first president of 

Wesleyan, 242 
Fiske, John, lecturer on philosophy, 

509 

Fiske, Moses, punishment of, 443 
Fitch, Benj., founder Soldiers' Home, 

479 
Fitch, Captain, land given to, 96 
Fitch, Ebenezer, a president of 

Williams, 247 
Fitch, Eleazer T., of the Divinity 

School, 236 
Fitch, John, builds first, steamboat, 

313; goes to France, 313; commits 

suicide, 313; 414 



Ind 



ex 



579 



Fitch, John L., a forest painter, 521 
Fitch, Rev. James, people of, settle 

Norwich, 24; Owenico gives land 

to, 46; preaches to Indians, 50; 

reference to, 143; donates land to 

college, 229 
Fitch, Thomas, revision of laws by, 

273; reference to, 279 
Fitch's Home for Soldiers at Darien, 

479 
Five Nations, treaty with the, 200 
Flagg, Charles Noel, Potter a pupil 

of, 522 
Flagg, George W., works of, 519 
Flagg, Henry C, a marine painter, 

5i8 
Flagg, Jared B., a portrait painter, 

519; Life of Allston, by, 519 
Flagg, Samuel, Black Horse built by, 

2 5 6 

Fletcher, Colonel Benjamin, arrives 
to govern New York, 178; com- 
missioned to command militia of 
Connecticut, 178; orders surrender 
of Connecticut militia, 179; Wads- 
worth outwits, 179; a few men 
given to, 180; 556 

Food, early, in Connecticut, 106 ff. 

Fool's Prayer, The, quoted, 509 

Foote, Admiral Andrew H., reference 
to, 223; from Connecticut, 386; 
death of, 387 

Force Act, Congress passes the, 335 

Forestry Act, 542 

School of, Pinchot gives, 239 

Fort Griswold, Lambert's bravery at, 
159; surrenders, 290 

Fort Griswold, poem by Brainard, 503 

Fort Trumbull taken, 290 

Fortune, the, Christaensen's ship. 5 

Fosdick, Thomas V., among Knowl- 
ton's Rangers, 289 

Foss, Cyrus D., succeeds Cummings, 

243 
Foster, Henry, 379 
Fountain, a temperance journal, 410 
Fowler, William, leads first settlers 

on Housatonic, 20 
Framingham, settlers take path 

through, 11, 249 
France, academies of, 221; injurious 

treatment of, 330 
Francis, Joane, testifies against Mrs. 

Harrison, 151 
Franklin, Gov., imprisoned at New- 
gate, 295 
Franklin, Benj., reference to, 221; at 

convention, 298; urges compro- 



mise, 302; hymns published by, 
529 

Free Academy, Slater helps, 226 

Free Soil party, 378 

Freeborn, Ward in command of, 384 

Fremont, General, in command Mis- 
souri army, 383 

French war, effect on Connecticut, 
123 

Frontenac, prisoners burned at, 32 

Fugill, Thomas, one of pillars of 
church, 19, 207 

Fulton, Robert, Fitch's plans shown 
to, 313 

Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, 
63 ff.; Ludlow and framing of, 76; 
repudiate common law, 92 ; quoted, 
119; referred to, 305, 339 



Gage, General, Gov. Trumbull 
writes to, 283; seizes powder-house, 
283 

Galena, Bushnell building the, 387 

Gallaudet, E. M., son of Rev. Thomas, 
248 

Gallaudet, Rev. Thomas, studies 
methods of teaching deaf-mutes, 
472 

Gallop, John, attacks Pequots, 38 

" Gallows Hill, " Greensmiths hanged 
on, 149 

Gallup, Capt., death of, 48 

Gardener, Lyon, skill of, 14; erects 
fort, 14; commander of Saybrook 
fort, 39 

Garrison, William L., statue of, 522 

Garvin, Albert, superintendent of 
Reformatory, 453 

Gazette, Connecticut, advertisement 
from, quoted, 158 

New London, advertisement 

from, quoted, 160 

General Assembly, General Court be- 
comes, 83; referred to, 85, 137, 200, 
203; appoints judges for Superior 
Court, 86 ; orders to constables, 88 ; 
adds to the Saybrook Platform, 
140; new law ordered by, 141; laws 
for slaves made by, 157; Andros 
demands charter of, 170; grants 
first mining company charter, 191; 
grants favors to promote indus- 
tries, 193; grant made by, 212; 
gives charter to college, 229; builds 
Connecticut Hall, 232 ; grants land 
to Yale, 232; Clap and the, 233; 



58o 



Index 



General Assembly (Continued) 

orders road, 250; votes for stage 
drivers, 256; appropriations by, for 
roads, 262; inquiries into religious 
indifference, 264; splits town and 
church, 272; gives up church fight, 
274; act passed by, 292; issues 
money, 320; taxation laws made 
by, 323; lotteries for building al- 
lowed by, 372 ; Gov. Baldwin and, 
377; tramp law passed by, 435; 
colony for epileptics organized by, 
478 ; Yale liquor law passed by, 490 

Association, 136; declares slave 

trade unjust, 161 

Court, establishing of, 22 ; meets 

at Hartford, 40; decision of, 40; 
first court for Connecticut, 55; 
held at tavern, 57; meetings at 
New Haven, 60; definite formation 
of, 83; becomes General Assembly, 
83; referred to, 84, 89, 92, 129; 
adopts Ludlow's Code, 90; calls 
"Reforming Synod," 122; inter- 
venes in Stone and Goodwin fight, 
132; issues edict to churches, 135; 
makes law against witchcraft, 146; 
letters read at, 182; confederation 
signed at, 182; custom laws made 
by, 187; appeals for highways to, 
250; orders taverns, 255 

"General Hospital for the Insane," 
etc., at Middletown, 487 

General Hospital Society, chartered, 
431; funds voted for, 432 

Synod, plans for college, 228 

Genesee River, painting by Kensett, 
520 

Gening, Jo, public chimney sweep, 
106 

George III., Earl paints miniature of, 

George Junior Republic, in Litch- 
field, 459 

Gerry, Elbridge, quoted, 300; makes 
report, 302 

Ghent, reference to negotiations at, 

337 
Gibbs, Josiah Willard, of the Divinity 

School, 236; one of faculty, 238 
Gilbert, Matthew, one of pillars of 

church, 19 
Gilbert, W. S., endows Gilbert Home, 

483 
Gilbert Home, for children, 482 

School, at Winsted, 224 

Gilded Age, The, by Warner and Clem- 
ens, 508 



Gilman, Daniel C, editor of maga- 
zine, 239; president University of 
California, 247 

Glacial Age, markings in Connecticut 
of, 3 

Glastonbury, 24, 26, 103, 196; Harris 
builds mill in, 96; diary of a, man, 
quoted, 186; Story takes students 
to, 235; pays for bridge, 261; 
music in church of, 527 

Gleason, Captain, in the slave trade, 
156 

Goffe, Major-General William, one 
of the regicide judges, 164 

Golden Hill Seminary, at Bridge- 
port, 222 

Golden House, The, by C. D. Warner, 
508 

Goodman, Richard, keeper of prison 
house, 438 

Goodrich, Chauncey A., professor at 
Yale, 236 

Goodrich, Samuel G., instructive 
books by, 504 

Goodrich School, girls' school in 
Norwich, 222 

Goodwin, Daniel R., succeeds Wil- 
liams, 241 

Goodwin, James, president of Con- 
necticut Mutual, 406, 407 

Goodwin, William, Hartford deeded 
to, 12; ruling elder in Hartford, 
132; party of, withdraw from 
church, 132 

Goodyear, Charles, inventor rubber 
goods, 360, 361 

Goodyear, Nelson, patents hard 
rubber, 361 

Goodyear, Stephen, sets up mill, 191 

Gookin preaches to Indians, 50 

Gore, ceded to the United States, 202; 
granting and selling of the, 202 

Gorges not admitted to league, 182 

Gorham drafts constitution, 305 

Goshen, in Litchfield County, 198; 
land granted in, 232 

Academy incorporated, 222 

Graham, Sylvester, reference to, 496 

Graham Lectures on Science of Life, 
496 

Granby, Simsbury now called, 191; 
James Kilburn of, 205; excavation 
begun at, 415; prison in, 439 

Grant, Matthew, diary of, referred to, 
146 

Grant, Ulysses S., descended from 
Connecticut people, 391 

Gray, Deacon, a slaveowner, 157 



Index 



58l 



Great Awakening, reference to, 137, 
367; start of the, 266 

Bethel, Winthrop killed at, 508 

Britain, contributes to Lebanon 

School, 52; laws of, 93; prohibits 
American produce, 335 

Green Woods, north half of 

Litchfield, 259 

Green Mountain Boys, 199 

Greene, Benjamin W., president 
Connecticut Insurance, 402 

Greene, Col. Jacob L., president 
Connecticut Mutual Life, 407 

Greenfield, insurance agency in, 396 

Hill, private school at, 221 

Green's Farms, Tryon destroys, 291 

Greensmith, Nathanael, indictment 
of, quoted, 148; wife testifies 
against, 149; sentenced to death, 
149 

Greensmith, Rebecca, Rev. Whit- 
ing's description of, 148; testifies 
against husband, 149; sentenced to 
death, 149 

Greenwich, purchase of, 21; admitted 
to Confederacy, 22; in Connecticut 
boundary, 174; loss to, during 
Revolution, 213; academy at, 222; 
home for nervous at, 483 

Greenwood, John, Washington's den- 
tist, 247 

Gregorian Calendar, establishing of, 

93 

Gregory, Rear- Admiral Francis H., 
from Connecticut, 386 

Grenville, George, praises Connecti- 
cut "Reasons," 280 

Griffin, Dr., quoted, 369 

Griffin, Edward S., a president of 
Williams, 247 

Griswold, Ashbel, finds new metal, 359 

Griswold, John A., cooperates with 
Bushnell, 387; becomes Ericsson's 
partner, 388 

Griswold, Matthew, refuses to wit- 
ness ceremony, 280 

Griswold, Jr., Matthew, a chief 
justice of Supreme Court, 98 

Griswold, Michael, brings suit against 
Mrs. Harrison, 152 

Griswold, Roger, a Chief Justice of 
Supreme Court, 98; lawyers elect, 

347 
Groton, Pequot forts at, 38; disaster 
in, 49; 213, 227; Sir John Davie 
of, 229; Great Awakening in, 267; 
Arnold attacks, 290; deaf sent to, 
474 



Bank, Jeffrey settles at, 190 

Grove Hall, girls' school at New 

Haven, 222 
Grovesner, Thomas, among Knowl- 

ton's Rangers, 289 
Guarantee Fund, life insurance, 405 
Guerrilre defeated in naval battle, 

333 

Guiana, Dutch, a Hartford slave 
from, 155 

Guilford, settling of, 20; migration 
from, 21; referred to, 21, 103, 165, 
171; joins New Haven colony, 
76; Rev. Whitfield's home in, 104; 
Higginson preached in, 122; be- 
comes a lawful port, 187; Halsey 
and Ward from, 202; sends com- 
mittee to East Jersey, 205; Bald- 
win born in, 246 ; Great Awakening 
in, 267; library association in, 311 

Gunn, Frederick W., founder of the 
Gunnery, 223 

Gunnery, the, at Washington, 223 



H 



Haddam, 24; incorporated, 25; small 
tribe in, 29; Brainerd Academy at, 
222; Liberty Pole in, 283 

, East, Stephen Hosmer of, 125 

Hadley, disaster in, 49; settling of, 
123; angry party moves to, 132; 
judges concealed in, 166 

Hadley, Arthur T., succeeds Presi- 
dent Dwight, 239 

Hadley, James, linguist and philolo- 
gist, 237, 511 

Hale, Benjamin E., president Tem- 
perance Insurance, 410 

Hale, Mary, testifies against Mrs. 
Harrison, 151 

Hale, Nathan, school teacher in 
New London, 222 ; a Yale man, 235 ; 
among Knowl ton's Rangers, 289; 
hanged for spy, 289 

Half-way Covenant, a blight to 
spirituality, 123; Second Church 
adopts, 132; an explanation of, 
132 etseq.; reaffirmed, 133; becomes 
general practice, 134; referred to, 
143; Bellamy opposed to, 275; done 
away with, 370 

Hall, Gardener, manufactures cotton 
thread, 363 

Halleck, Fitz-Greene, quoted, 502 

Halsey, Jeremiah, proposal of, 202 

Hamilton, Alexander, Wadsworth a 
friend of, 393; 516 



582 



Index 



Hamilton College, founder of, 245 
Hamilton Oneida Academy, Kirkland 

founder of, 226 
Hamlin, Jabez, will of, quoted, 109 
Hampden, 18; Ives born in, 519 
and Hampshire Canal, canals to 

join the, 415 
Hampton Roads, Monitor goes to, 

388 
Hand Academy at Madison, 222 
Hand, Joseph, gives money to educate 

negroes, 226 
Handel and Haydn Society, 531 
Handel, Messiah, 531 
Hanging Hills of Meriden, forming of, 

2 
Hanover, school moves to, 52 ; Wheel- 

ock's Indian at, 245 
Happy Dodd, by Rose T. Cooke, 508 
Hardware City, New Britain called, 

364 

Hardy, Sir Thomas, attacks Stoning- 

ton, 333 
Harris, Samuel, of the Divinity 

School, 236 
Harris, Thomas, land given to, 96 
Harris, William T., educational works 

by, 225 
Harrison, Katheran, indictment of, 

quoted, 150; testimony against, 

150 et seq.; freed, 152 
Hart, John, first Yale graduate, 230; 

chosen tutor at Yale, 230 
Hart, Samuel, father of Emma Hart 

Willard, 504 
Hart School in Farmington, 223 
Hartford, 53, 125, 483, 547; Dudley 

Buck born in, 533; increase in 

value of, 549 
Accident Insurance, changed to 

Life and Annuity Insurance, 409 
Hartford, Brownell on flagship, 506 
and Connecticut Western opened 

to public, 417 
and New Haven Insurance Co. 

formed, 393 
and New Haven Railroad 

opened, 416 
and Wethersfield Horse Rail- 
road Co., 419; electric trolley put 

on line, 419 
Bank, chartered, 322; Wads- 
worth organizes, 392, 394; meets 

insurance crisis, 397 

Bridge Co. builds bridge, 261 

Convention, description of the, 

334 1- 
County Mutual, 403 



— County, Sixteenth Regiment 
from, 385 

— Nawaa Indians at, 4; Sequas- 
son testifies for English in court 
of, 6; Dutch in possession of, 6; 
House of Hope condemned by 
court at, 7; Connecticut Historical 
Society at, 7; deeded to Stone and 
Goodwin, 12; migration from, 22; 
incorporated, 25, 355: fighting 
men from, 40; General Court meets 
at, 40; Mason's army returns to, 44; 
Connecticut Court meets at, 44; 
meeting at, 46; Newtowne church 
emigrates to, 54 ; Newtowne changed 
to, 56; first town organization in, 
56; building of State House in, 60; 
people met at, 62; chooses towns- 
men, 69; officers of, 69; townsmen 
in, 71; charter read in, 78; repre- 
sented in "Corte, " 81; first court 
meets in, 81 ; Particular Court meets 
in, 83; made a county, 84; Supreme 
Court to meet at, 86; Common 
Pleas Court in, 86; chimney law 
voted in, 105; Col. Williams of, 
112; woman hanged in, 121; fam- 
ous quarrel in, 131 et seq.; Second 
Church formed in, 132; two 
consociations in, 136; treatment 
of Quakers in, 138; Young hanged 
in, 146; case of the Greensmiths of, 
148; slavery in, 155; slave- vessel 
sails from, 156; negro ceremonies in, 
159 ff.; obtains part of Litchfield 
County, 169; Randolph serves 
writs at, 169; Col. Fletcher arrives 
in, 179; last meeting in, 184; trades 
with England, 186; new State 
House for, 201 ; first school in, 207; 
educational laws in, 208; support 
of schools in, 210; Hopkins's gift to, 
211; evening schools in, 216; Sem- 
inary of Saint Joseph in, 224; free 
high school started in, 224; wants 
Yale college, 23 1 ; chosen for Wash- 
ington College, 241 ; buys college 
campus, 241 ; Institute transferred 
to, 244; Bay Path to, 249; roads to, 
253; poor roads in, 253; Adams's 
tavern in, 255; Black Horse 
Tavern in, 256; transportation to 
New Haven from, 256; stage route 
from Boston to, 257; petition for 
highway to, 259; Thomas Caldwell 
of, 260; ferry near, 260; pays for 
bridge, 261; a Tory shot in, 294; 
State convention at, 304; mail route 



Ind 



ex 



583 



Hartford (Continued) 

to, 311; stage to, 312; duck factory 
started at, 315; commissioners 
meet in, 320; newspaper in, 355; 
shops in, 355; electroplating at, 359; 
revolvers manufactured in, 362; 
panic in insurance world, 397; 
Connecticut Fire Insurance Co. in, 
402; foreign agencies at, 403; rail- 
road between New Haven and, 417; 
poor provided for in, 420; provision 
for sick in, 424; house of correction 
in, 426; almshouse built in, 429; dis- 
pensary in, 432; Retreat at, for 
insane, 432; report of committee, 
435i 43°; orphan asylum in, 436; 
first jail in, 438; imprisonment for 
debt in, 446; women help poor 
children, 448; nursery for blind 
at, 476; orphan asylum at, 479; 
St. James Asylum at, 483; home 
for consumptives at, 484; Fitch 
born in, 521; Church born in, 
521 

Hartford Courant, advertisement m, 
393; Warner editor of, 508 

Hartford, East, paper-mill in, 194 

Female Beneficent Society, for 

protection of minors, 479 

Female Seminary, 222 

Hartford Fire Insurance Company, a 
charter for the, 395; Terry meets 
losses of, 397; starts city protection, 
404 

Hartford Home incorporated, 479 

Hospital incorporated, 432 

Hartford Land Records, deed recorded 
in, 12 

Hartford Life and Annuity Insurance 
Co. chartered, 409 

Machine Screw Company organ- 
ized, 359 _ nfJ 

Marine Insurance Co., Cald- 
well president of, 394 

Medical Society helps insane, 

463 ff- 
Orphan Asylum, united with 

Beneficent, 479 

Philharmonic Society, 535 

Hartford Press, meeting in office of, 
382; Warner editor of, 508 

Hartford Retreat, a private institu- 
tion, 465 

Rubber Works, 361 

School of Design, Stancliff pres- 
ident of, 520 

Hartford State House Lottery, failure 
of, 201 et seg_. 



Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection 
and Insurance Co. chartered, 411 

Theological Seminary, Institute 

called, 244; founding of, 244; Tyler 
president of, 512 

Turnpike, 263 

"Hartford Wits," influential element 
of, 498 

Hartford Woolen Manufactory, Hins- 
dale builds, 315 

Hartranft, Chester A., 244 

Harvard, New England's support of, 
228; degrees to students, 230; 
beginning of Yale games, 238; 
Sparks president of, 247; White- 
field condemns, 270 

Harwinter, 198 

Haskell, Captain, of the Experiment, 
414 

Hastings, Thomas, teacher of music, 

531 

Hasty Pudding, poem by Barlow, 501 
Hauptmann, Buck a pupil of, 533 
Haverhill, insurance agency in, 396 
Hawley, Joseph R., enlists as volun- 
teer, 382, 391 
Hawthorne, 505 
Hayden, Horace H., founder of first 

dental college, 247 
Haynes, John, travels with Hooker, 
8; in procession to Connecticut, 12; 
party of, look out for themselves, 
15; referred to, 57, 65, 76, 555; 
chosen governor of Connecticut, 
72; tries Half-way Covenant, 
133; interviews Mrs. Greensmith 
in prison, 149; goes to Boston, 182; 
on commission board, 183 
Haywood Rubber Company organ- 
ized, 361 
Hazard, J. L., urges help for army, 

288 
Head of a Roman Girl, by Cheney, 518 
Heart of the Andes, Church's, 521 
Hebron, dispute over lands in, 24; 

Peters born in, 93 
Heminway, Jacob, referred to, 230 
Hendrie Hall given to Law School, 

239 

Henley-on-the-Thames, torture of 

woman at, 32 
Henry VIII. , witchcraft in reign of, 

146; music in days of, 525 
Henry, Fort, Foote's capture of, 386 
Herald, Windham, advertisements in, 

309 
Hertford, England, Hartford settlers 

from, 12 



584 



Index 



Hickok, Laurens P., president Union 
University, 246 

Higginson, Charles, reference to, 207 

Higginson, John, minister with Fen- 
wick, 15; quoted, 114; Testimony to 
the Order of the Gospel, etc., by, 
122; joins William Hubbard, 122; 
referred to, 124; opens school in 
Hartford, 207 

High schools, in Connecticut, 215; 
free, in Hartford, 224 

Higley, John, copper cents coined by, 
3i8 

Higley, Joseph, patents his process, 
191 

Hillhouse, James, school fund in 
hands of, 213; treasurer of Yale, 
236 

Hinsdale, Daniel, builds woolen 
manufactory, 315 

Hinsdale, Theodore, Joint Stock Act 
framed by, 355 

Hinsdale act, 316 

Historical Society organized, 513 

History of American Currency, etc., 
by Sumner, 511 

of Plymouth Colony, indorsement 

of, quoted, 218 

Hitchcock, Colonel, a Yale man, 235 

Hitchcock, Commodore R. B., from 
Connecticut, 386 

Hoadley, C. J., State Library libra- 
rian, 513 

Hoadley, David, architect, 523; works 

of, 523 

Hoadley, Silas, maker of clocks, 358 
Hobbamocke, an Indian devil, 33 
Holland, Blok sails for, 5 
Holland, J. G., quoted, 249 
Holmes, Captain Jeremiah, fights at 

Stonington, 333 
Holmes, Captain William, starts for 

Connecticut River, 5; lands at 

Farmington River, 6 
Holy Trinity, Buck organist at, 533 
Home for Incurable Children, 481 _ 
Hong Kong, System of Practice in, 

Hooker, Thomas, head of migration 
movement, 7 ; Laud attacks, 8 ; goes 
to Holland, 8; lands in Boston, 8; 
made pastor of Cambridge, 8; 
voyage to Boston of, 8; in pro- 
cession to Connecticut, 12; well of, 
still in use, 13; party of, take care 
of themselves, 15; teaches in 
Indian school, 51; referred to, 
57, 65, 131, 555; doctrines of, 



quoted, 61; reference to sermon of, 
61; laws made from sermon of, 62; 
author of constitution, 74; Peters 
writes of, 95; home of, 105; quoted, 
119; Hartford quarrel after death 
of, 132; goes to Boston, 181; 
Strong a successor of, 369 

Hopkins, Edward, reference to, 6; 
appointed commissioner by Con- 
necticut, 15; head of settlement, 
17; governor seven times, 72; a 
slaveowner, 155; on commission 
board, 183; gift from, for schools, 
211 

Hopkins, Lemuel, one of "Hartford 
Wits," 498; quoted, 499 

Hopkins, Samuel, for freeing of 
slaves, 160; referred to, 274, 511; 
opposer of slavery, 275; patent 
granted to, 365; attitude towards 
slavery of, 375; essays against 
slavery by, 511 

Home, Samuel, first enlistment, 382 

Horticultural Society, 540 

Hosmer, James B., gives money to 
Institute, 244 

Hosmer, Stephen, election sermon by, 

125 

Hospital for Insane, 437 
Hotchkiss school in Lakeville, 224 
Housa tonic, first settlers on the, 20; 

Litchfield watered by the, 198 
"House of Hope," Dutch fort called, 

6; condemned by Hartford Court, 

7 

House of Representatives, branch of 
legislature, 351 

Houses, description of early, in 
Connecticut, 104 ff. 

Howard, James L., starts life insur- 
ance, 404 

Howard, Mark, agent for Protection, 
400; at St. Louis fire, 401 ; president 
the Merchants, 401 ; president the 
National, 401 ; death of, 401 

Howe, Elias, maker sewing-machine, 
362 

Howe, Jr., Elias, a private, 385 

Hubbard, Gurdon S., ^Etna's Chicago 
agent, 399 

Hubbard, R. W., works of, 520 

Hubbard, Thomas, publishes first 
arithmetic, 220; work in arithmetic 

by, 503 „. . 

Hubbard, William, Higginson joins 
with, 122; referred to, 124 

Hudson River Indians, Connecticut 
Indians in terror of, 31 



Index 



585 



Hudson River Indians, Mohicans, 30 

Hull, General William, Brigadier- 
General, 331; reaches Detroit, 332; 
retreats, 332; surrenders to Brock, 
332 ; accused of treason, 332 

Hull, Isaac, wins naval battle, 333 

Humphrey, Hector, on Washington's 
faculty, 241 

Humphrey, Heman, a benefactor of 
Amherst, 246 

Humphreys, David, one of " Hartford 
Wits," 498 

Humphreys, General, introduces 
Spanish merino sheep, 314; maker 
of broadcloths, 363 

Huntington, Collis P., railroad built 

by, 365 

Huntington, Gov., addresses con- 
vention, 304 

Huntington, Hezekiah, refuses to 
witness ceremony, 280 

Huntington, Jabez, wonderful chaise 
of, 254; refuses to witness cere- 
mony, 280 

Huntington, Roger, wagon owned 
by, 254 

Huntington, Samuel, releases the 
Gore, 202 

Hutchinson quoted, 153 

Hutchinson, Mrs., 10; teachings of, 
121 

Hutchinson, Timothy, tried for smil- 
ing in church, 265 

Huxley referred to, 240 

Hyde, Reuben H., chancellor of 
New York, 98 

Hypocrite's Hope, The, quoted, 499 



Icebergs, work of Church, 321 

"Ik Marvel," Mitchell known as, 

507 
Illinois, missionaries go to, 370; 

iEtna helps, farmers, 409 
College, Collins a contributor 

to, 206 ; Sturtevant founder of, 246 ; 

Beecher first president of, 246 
Imlay, William, home of, insured, 

392 
Independence, Fort, expedition lands 

at, 204 
India, System of Practice in, 513 
Indiana, missionaries go to, 370 
Indian corn made legal tender, 317 
Indians, life and customs of the, 32 

ff.; a trial to settlers, 35; English 

taught by, 36 



Industrial School for girls at Middle- 
town, 437, 450, 451 

Ingersoll, Jared, commissioned stamp- 
master, 279, 281; forced to resign, 
281 

Ingersoll, Jonathan, made Lieuten- 
ant-Governor, 348 

"Injustice and Impolicy of Slave 
Trade," 160 

Inman, Henry, Cummings a pupil of, 
5i8 

Innocents Abroad, by " Mark Twain, " 

509 

Insane, Hospital for, 437 
Intercollegiate Baseball Association 

founded, 238 
Inward Light, 138 
Iowa, JEtna. helps, farmers, 409 
Ipswich, messengers sent to, 11 ; 

Hubbard pastor at, 122 
Ireland, County Tyrone in, 190 
Irish Commission, Ludlow serves on, 

9i 
Iron, first found in Connecticut, 190 

ff 

Iroquois, Mohawks members of, 31 
Isham, General, arrives at Stoning- 

ton, 334 
Isham, Ralph, at Wadsworth Gallery, 

521 
Island Number Ten, fortifications of, 

386 
Ives, Chauncey B., a sculptor, 519; 

works of, 519 
Ives, Eli, on medical faculty, 236 



Jackson, General, reference to, 337; 

President, Waldo's portrait of, 516 
Jackson, Richard, reference to, 279 
Jamaica, shipments to, 188 
James I., music in days of, 525 
James II., referred to, 123; plans for 

New England by, 167 et seq; flees 

to France, 172 
James, Duke of York, tract given to, 

173; new patent granted to, 173 
James Blackstone Memorial, library 

at Branford, 227 
Jarves, valuable volumes in the, 

gallery, 240 
Jarvis Hall built, 241 
Jay, John, 192, 516; quoted, 297; 

Federalist views of, 299 
Jefferson, President, embargo laid 

by, 335; election of, referred to, 344; 
portrait of, 516 



586 



Ind 



ex 



Jeffrey, Captain John, builds ship, 

190 
Jephthah and his Daughter, work of 

Augur, 517 
Jeremy Adams's Tavern, court held 

at, 57, 58 
Jerome, Chauncey, manufacturer 

brass clocks, 357 
Jersey Plan, Patterson presents the, 

301; rejected, 302 
Jewell, Marshall, at Chicago fire, 403 
Jewett City, cotton industry in, 363 
Joan of Arc, by "Mark Twain," 509 
Jocelyn, Nathanael, teacher and 

painter, 518 
Jocelyn, Simeon E., member Anti- 
Slavery Society, 377 
Johns Hopkins, Gillman president of, 

247 
Johnson, Jacob, testimony given by 

widow of, 151 
Johnson, Mary, executed as a witch, 

146 et seq. 
Johnson, Samuel A., a chemist, 238 
Johnson, Steven, 513 
Johnson, William Samuel, referred to 

73» 554! a Connecticut lawyer, 97; 

early life of, 246; Columbia's first 

president, 246; Connecticut dele- 
gate, 298; chosen to Senate, 304; 

signs Connecticut Compromise, 304 
Joint Stock Act passed, 356 
Jones, Deputy Governor William, 

one of special court, 153 
Joshua, son of Uncas, 25 
Journal of Education, The, by Henry 

Barnard, 225 
of Speculative Philosophy, by 

William T. Harris, 225 
Justice of the peace, beginning of the 

office, 87 



K 



Keeney, Richard, licensed ferryman, 

260 
Keith, George, complaints against 

Connecticut by, 139 
Kellogg, Henry, secretary of the 

Phoenix, 402 
Kelly, John, reference to daughter of, 

147 

Kendall, Amos, quoted, 330 
Kennedy School of Missions, Semi- 
nary includes, 245 
Kensett, John F., career of, 520 
Kensington, Percival born in, 502, 
517 



Kent, 20, 198, 205; sale of, 212; land 
granted in, 232 ; Daggett, professor 
of law, 237; chemical laboratory 
given, 239 

Kent's Commentaries, 130 

Kentucky, praises Connecticut sys- 
tem, 213; missionaries go to, 370 

Kiehtan, an Indian god, 33 

Kies, Mrs. Mary, weaving patent 
given to, 365 

Kilburn, James, a typical pioneer, 
205; goes to Congress, 205; presi- 
dent of Worthington College, 205 

Kill Devil, rum from Barbadoes, 187 

Killingly, first town meeting in, 198; 
Fitch gives land in, 229; Library 
Association formed by, 311; cotton 
industry in, 363 

Killingworth, founding of, 25; steel 
furnace at, 191; Abel Buel of, 192; 
Yale started in, parsonage, 230; 
Madame Knight at, 251 

King Philip, an Algonkin Indian, 28 

King's Most Excellency in Council, 
petition sent to, 273 

Kingdom Coming, etc., song by Work, 

507 
Kingfisher, Sir Andros's frigate, 168 
Kingsbury, 391 
Kingsley, James L., added to Yale's 

faculty, 235 
Kinsley, Dr. Apollos, makes first 

steam carriage, 315 
Kirkland, Samuel, an educator, 226; 

missionary to Indians, 245 ; founder 

of Hamilton College, 245 
Kirkland Hall built for Scientific 

School, 239 
Knap, Goodwife, the case of, 147 
Knight, Dr. Henry M., school for 

imbeciles started by, 477; death of, 

478 
Knight, Jonathan, on medical faculty, 

236 
Knight, Madame, diary of, quoted, 

251 ff.; reference to, 255, 318 
Knott, Eliphalet, benefactor Union 

University, 246 
Knowlton, Thomas, a Connecticut 

martyr, 289 
Knowlton s Rangers, officers in, 289 
Knox, General, in military conference, 

292; Tisdale's portrait of, 516 



Labrador, 28 

Lafayette, Morse's portrait of, 517 



Ind 



ex 



587 



Lake Erie, expedition on, 204; Porter 

at, 334 
Lake George, painting by Kensett, 

520 
Lakeville, forge erected at, 192; guns 

made at, 192; schools in, 224; 

school for imbeciles at, 477, 478 
Lambert, bravery of negro named, 

Lamentation, forming of mountain 

called, 2 
Lampson, Goodwife, referred to, 461 
Lampson Lyceum erected, 239 
Landing of the Pilgrims, painting by 

Flagg, 519 
Lathrop, Dr. Daniel, owner of early 

chaise, 254 
Laud, William, reference to, 7, 77, 

140; Puritans rebel against, 101 
Law, Andrew, teacher and composer, 

531 

Law, Gov. Jonathan, first silkworms 
on farm of, 193; wears first Con- 
necticut silk, 193 

Law, Richard, addresses convention, 

304 

Law School established at Yale, 237; 
Hendrie Hall given to, 239 

Lawrence Hall given, 239 

Lebanon, Indian school in, 51; Great 
Britain contributes to school at, 52 ; 
Jeremiah Mason born in, 97; re- 
ferred to, 205; earliest school at, 
221 ; Great Awakening in, 267; Earl 
born in, 515 

Lechford quoted, 102 

Ledyard, Colonel Wm., Lambert kills 
slayer of, 159; in command of forts, 
290; surrenders and is killed, 290 

Lee, Dr., at McLean Asylum, 464 

Lee, R. H., quoted, 305 

"Lee's Windham Bilious Pills," an 
early patent medicine, 309 

Leete, Andrew, 171 

Leete, Governor William, work of, 
103; indictment of Mrs. Harrison 
made under, 150; mandate from 
king to, 165; objects to king's 
mandate, 165; reports to Privy 
Council, 188 

Leete's Island, stone from, 262 

Leffingwell, Christopher, a paper 
manufacturer, 194; one of "com- 
mittee," 283 

Leffingwell, Thomas, takes food to 
Uncas, 23 

Lehigh University, Packer's gift to, 

2."6 



Lehigh Valley Railroad, Packer devel- 
ops, 226 
Leicester, Huntington's wagon goes 

to, 254 
Leisler, Governor, asks Connecticut 

for troops, 178 
Leland, Rev. John, for separation of 

church and state, 343; Right of 

Conscience Inalienable, by, 343; 

attacks charter of Charles II., 343; 

speeches published by, 345; pleads 

for religious liberty, 346 
Letters to Young Ladies, by Mrs. Sig- 

ourney, 504 
Lewis, John, arrest of, 443 
Lexington, views of battle at, 192; 

reference to, 259 
Liberty poles erected, 283 
Life and Death, painting by Potter, 

522 
and Letters of Washington A 11- 

ston, by J. B. Flagg, 519 
and Writings of Washington, 

etc., by Sparks, 502 

of Henry Clay, by Prentice, 505 

Light of Asia, The, oratorio by Buck, 

533 

Lime Rock, ore forged at, 192 

Limited Liability Act, English, 356 

Lincoln, Abraham, Baldwin votes for, 
379; calls for men, 385; Wright's 
portrait of, 522 

Lincoln, General, Cornwallis surren- 
ders to, 292 

Lion Fire Insurance, agency at Hart- 
ford, 403 

Litchfield, uninhabited, 29; Common 
Pleas Court in, 86; first law school 
in, 97; law reports from, 97; first 
carriage in, 109; division of, 
197; Ethan Allen born in, 199; 
Collins brothers from, 206; first 
girls' school in, 222; Bushnell born 
in, 275, 505; highway to, 259; first 
cavalry formed in, 285; stage to 
New York from, 312; convention 
held at, 347; Henry Ward Beecher 
born in, 379; George Junior Re- 
public in, 459; Dickenson born in, 
5i8 

Beechers, 373 

County, Hartford and Windsor 

obtain, 169; forges in, 192; organi- 
zation of, County, 198; Vermont 
child of, County, 199 

County Choral Union at Nor- 
folk, 534 

County Home, wards of the, 483 



588 



Index 



Litchfield, Law School, Tappan Reeve 
of, 156; discontinued, 237 

Mutual, 403 

Little Plain, reference to, 118 

Little Red Schoolhouse, 214 

Local Option Law, 493 

Locomotive, The, a monthly journal, 
412 

London, John Trumbull in, 515 

Bishop of, complaints of Con- 
necticut reported to, 139 

and Lancashire, Orient under 

the, 403 

Long Island, purchase and settling 
of land on, 21 ; Pequots conquer, 30; 
Connecticut people in, 206; pre- 
parations begun on, 287 

Sound, Connecticut's 

boundary on, 1; British leave, 334; 
canal from Southwick Ponds to, 

415 
Long Wharf, trade headquarters, 355 
Loomis, Elias, a mathematician, 237 
Loomis, Simeon L., president of the 

Phoenix, 402 
Lord, Dr., Rogers besets, 142 
Lords of Trade and Plantations, 

religious character explained to, 

135 
Louisburg, expedition against, 320; 

Wolcott at, 497 
Louisville Journal, Prentice editor of, 

505 

Lounsbury, Thomas A., becomes one 
of faculty, 238 

Loyalists, 293 

Ludlow, Roger, ignores claims of 
Pilgrims, 13; settles Fairfield, 21; 
made an authority, 55; referred 
to, 65, 555; family and early life 
of, 74 et seq.; chosen assistant, 
75; for the people, 75; on the 
Connecticut, 75 ; Fundamental 
Orders framed by, 76; one of the 
"Corte, " 81; provisions of code of, 
87, 90; puts laws into shape, 90; 
General Court adopts code of, 90; 
code in Colonial Records, 91 ; leaves 
Connecticut, 91 ; returns to Dublin, 
91 ; serves on Irish Commission, 91 ; 
made Master in Chancery, 91; on 
commission board, 183 

Lundy's Lane, Porter at, 334 

Luther, Flavel S., President of 
Trinity, 242 

Lyme, fight for possession of, 24; 
brilliant men from, 98 ; iron works 
in, 192; salt manufactured in, 193; 



Black Hall School in, 223; library 
association in, 311 
Lyon, General Nathanael, death of, 

383 
Lyon Regiment, from New Haven 
County, 385 



M 



McClellan, Esquire, referred to, 

255 
McCurdy, Judge C. J., 98 
McFingal, a Modern Epic, by John 

Trumbull, 500 
Mcintosh comes to America, 314 
McLean Asylum, Dr. Lee at, 464 
Macaulay, Lord, quoted, 207 
Mackenzie, William Douglas, 244 
Madeira, shipments to, 188 
Madison, President James, at con- 
vention, 298 ; declaration of war by, 
330; dissatisfaction with, 334 
Madison, Indians at, 28; academy at, 
222 ; Scran ton Memorial Library at, 
227 
Magistrates, Court of, establishing of, 

21 
Magnalia, Mather's, quoted, 147 
Maine Law, 492 
Malborne, Godfrey, a slaveowner, 

155 

Mamousin, a "praying Indian," 52 
Manchester, 24; evening schools in, 

216, pays for bridge, 261 
Manhadoes, 165 
Mann, Horace, 464 
Mansfield, dispute over lands in, 24; 

in tract given to Mason, 25; Dr. 

Aspinwall of, 193; center of silk 

business, 314; silkworm in, 363; 

epileptic colony at, 478 
Center, Cummings a resident 

of, 518 

Guards, a militia company, 382 

Silk Co., sewing silk made at, 

364 
Mansfield, Joseph K. F., wounded at 

Antietam, 384, 385 
Manual of Naval Tactics, Ward 

author of, 384 
Marching Through Georgia, song by 

Work, 507 
Marco Bozzaris, by Halleck, quoted, 

502 
Marett, Philip, donation to library, 

227 
Marietta College, Andrews president 

of, 245 



Index 



589 



" Mark Twain, " S. L/Clemens, works 

of, 509 
Market Gardeners' Association, 540 
Marlborough, disaster in, 49; Bay- 
Path through, 249 
Marsh, Othniel C., professor of 

paleontology, 237, 511 
Marshall, Capt., death of, 48 
Martha's Vineyard, Blok explores, 4 
Martin, Luther, writes of convention, 

301, 302 
Mary, William, and, come to the 

throne, 172 
Mason, on commission board, 183 
Mason, Captain John, helps Uncas, 
23 ; buys rest of Mohican country, 
23; settles Norwich, 23; disputes 
over land deeded to, 24; son of Un- 
cas wills tract to, 25; heads ninety 
Englishmen, 40; reaches Pequots' 
country, 41; plans for besieging 
Pequots of, 41; attacks Pequots, 
42 et seq. ; ordered to carry on war, 
44; tracks of Sassacus, 45; statue of, 
46; fatally injured, 48; grandson 
of, teaches, 51; general training 
officer, 72 ; associate of Ludlow, 75 ; 
first officer in Connecticut, no; 
indictment of Mrs. Harrison made 
under, 150; adviser of Uncas, 178 
Mason, Jeremiah, a United States 
Senator, 97; attorney -general of 
New Hampshire, 98; influenced by 
Smalley, 275 
Mason family, Mohican trustees, 178 
Mason, settlement of, denied admis- 
sion to league, 182 
Massachusetts, people tire of author- 
ity in, 7; people allowed to go from, 
11; reference to, 15, 93; claims 
Pequot country, 16; tries to keep 
settlers, 17; avenges murder of 
Oldham, 38; recognition of Con- 
necticut by, 54; Court institutes 
government for Connecticut, 55; 
Connecticut severs political de- 
pendence on, 55; Connecticut au- 
thority from, 56, 81,90; advice to 
New Haven from, 80; laws of, 
96 et seq.) orders Pynchon's book 
burned, 121; loss of franchise in, 
129; refuses to call a Synod, 133; 
dislike for Baptists in, 139; thought 
too grasping, 164; charter of, 
vacated, 170; make their boundary, 
176; gets some of Connecticut's 
land, 176; and Connecticut com- 
promise, 176; claims Narragansett 



country, 177; Rhode Island in, 177; 
leagues with other colonies, 181 
et seq.; population of, 181 ; disagrees 
with Plymouth, 182; people from, 
in Western Reserve, 204; liberal 
provisions for education in, 216; 
protests against Connecticut col- 
lege, 228; mint in, 318; tax system 
copied from, 323; delegates from, 
336 

Bay, Blok enters, 5 

Body of Liberties of, Connec- 
ticut takes articles from, 90 

Court of Assistants, 554 

Insane Hospital, Woodward phy- 
sician at, 465 
Master in Chancery, Ludlow made, 
91 

of Arts, Yale gives degree of, 230 

Match Girl, work of Flagg, 519 
Mather, Cotton, quoted, 8, 57; Mag- 

nalia of, quoted, 147 
Mather, Increase, 149 
Mather, Rev. Samuel, letter of, 

quoted, 124 
Mathias Point, Ward killed at, 384 
Mattabesett, exploring of, 23 
Mattatuck, or Naugatuck, 25 
Matthews, Mayor, imprisoned at 

Newgate, 296 
Maumee River, Hull sends supplies 

from, 331 
May, Rev. Samuel J., member 

Anti-Slavery Society, 376 
Mechanics Bank of New Haven char- 
tered, 415 
Medical Institution of Yale chartered, 

236 
Meditations on Man's First or Fallen 

Estate quoted, 497 
Meigs, Col., attack by, 291 
Meigs, Professor, one of faculty, 235 
Memorial organ in Woolsey Audi- 
torium, 239 
Merchants, the, incorporated, 401; 

Chicago fire ruins, 401 
Meriden, evening schools in, 216; 
free high school in, 224; the Bulk- 
ley School in, 224; silver industries 
in, 359; railroad from New Haven 
to, 416; reform school built at, 
448; the Curtis Home at, 482; 
home for consumptives at, 484; re- 
ferred to, 483 

Britannia Company started, 359 

Hanging Hills of, forming of, 2 

Merrill, Hezekiah, cashier Hartford 
Bank, 322 



590 



Index 



Merrimac, messengers sent to, II 

Merrimac, The, at Hampton Roads, 
387; a menace to navy, 388 

Merry's Museum, 504 

Methodist Episcopal Church wants 
college, 242 

Metropolitan Museum, portrait of 
Jackson at, 516 

Miantonomo, nephew of Canonicus, 
31; signs peace treaty, 45 et seq. 

Michigan, Connecticut people in, 206; 
school system of, 206 

Middlebury, Westover School in, 224; 
insurance agency in, 396 

Middlesex, division of, 197 

Mutual, 403 

Middletown, Sequin Indians at, 4; 
Blok arrives at, 4; establishing of, 
23; capital of the Sequins, 29; 
referred to, 29, 483, 547; Jabez 
Hamlin of, 109; William Rus- 
sell of, 125; sea captains from, 
156; ship belonging to, 186; lead 
mine near, 191; free high school 
at, 224; academy started in, 242; 
theological school in, 245; conven- 
tion at, 308 ; bank organized in, 322 ; 
savings bank in, 322; Mansfield 
Guards of, 382 ; hospital for insane 
at, 432; care of children in, 436; 
Industrial School for girls at, 450, 
451; State institution at, 467; 
orphan asylum at, 479; Shumway 
born in, 518; Hubbard born in, 
520 

and Berlin railroad, the, char- 
tered, 417 

■ Insurance Co. organized, 398 

Manufacturing Co., steam first 

used in, 363 

Milford, first settlement on the 
Housatonic, 20; settling of, 20; 
migration from, 21; Indians at, 28; 
Indians sell land near, 35; joins 
New Haven colony, 76; judges hide 
in, 166; becomes a lawful port, 187; 
sends committee to East Jersey, 
205; senior class goes to, 230 

Miller, Emily Huntington, a writer, 
508 

Miller, Lieutenant-Colonel, 332 

Miller, Phineas, becomes Whitney's 
partner, 365 

Mills, Samuel J., the father of foreign 
missions, 275 

Minister's Wooing, by H. B. Stowe, 
506 

Mirror, Brainard editor of the, 503 



Mississippi River, 200 

Missouri, Fremont in command of 
army at, 383 

Mitchell, Donald G., editor of 
magazine, 239; works of, 507, 508; 
portraits of family of, 517 

Mitchell, Stephen M., at convention, 
350 

Mitchell, Walter, secretary insur- 
ance company, 396; responsible for 
forming of ^Etna Co., 398 

Mobile Bay, Brownell at battle of, 
506 

Mohawks, collect tribute from Con- 
necticut Indians, 31; Indians fear 
the, 31; Sassacus beheaded by, 
45; near colonies, 181 

Mohican fields, new road through the, 

251 

Mohican Indians, urge Pilgrims to 
go to Connecticut, 5; Mason buys 
rest of, country, 23 ; decision against 
the, 24; on Thames River, 30; re- 
ferred to, 31, 177; treaty with Con- 
necticut, 46; Fitch tries to Christ- 
ianize, 50; sell and grant all their 
land, 178 

Momaguin, land bought from, 18 

Monitor, building of the, 387 

Monroe, Fortress, in danger, 388 

Montauk, Blok passes, 4 

Montville, woolen machinery at, 363 

"Moodus Noises," 29 

Moor, Joshua, leaves land for school, 

5i 

"Moor Indian Charity School," in 
Lebanon, 51 

Morgan, J. Pierpont, 524 

Morgan, John, president Bridge Co., 
261; forms Insurance Co., 393; re- 
ferred to, 394 

Morgan, Nathanael H., Hartford 
Home started by, 479 

Morgan Memorial, 524 

Morris, Robert, Wadsworth a friend 

of, 393 
Morse, Jedediah, maps for geography, 
192; encyclopedia by, 219; first 
geography by, 219; pupil of Silli- 
man, 236; work in geography by, 
503; Augur a pupil of , 516; father 
of Samuel F. B., 517 
Morse, Samuel F. B., a portrait 
painter, 517; first daguerreotype 
by, 517; artistic career of, 517 
Mortlake and Pomfret library, 311 
Morton, Thomas, quoted, 36 
Mosaic code in England, 92 



Ind 



ex 



591 



Moscheles, Buck a pupil of, 533 

Mossock, Eunice, 51 

Mossock, Solomon, 51 

Mott, Mistress, reference to, 310 

Mouice, John, referred to, 58 

Moulton, Louise C, songs and lyrics 
by, 508 

Mount Carmel Children's Home, 482 

Hope, King Philip's fort at, 47 

Mozart, work of, 531 

Mumford, Thomas, one of "com- 
mittee, " 283 

Munger, Gilbert, "painter, poet, 
patriot," 523 

Munson, Captain John, first stage- 
driver, 256 

Munson, Eneas, on medical faculty, 
236 

Mutual Assurance Co. of Norwich 
incorporated, 398 

Benefit of New Jersey, 404 

Security Company organized, 

402 

My Farm of Edgewood, by Mitchell, 
508 

Myner, Thomas, sent to Hartford 
to study, 50 

Mystic, Pequot forts at, 29; Con- 
necticut claims, 78 

English School, 224 

River, boundary line, 177 



N 



Nahant, Blok sails as far as, 5 
Nantasket, Ludlow lands in, 74 
Nantucket, Blok explores, 4; com- 
petition between Connecticut and, 

313 

Napoleon, England at war with, 330; 

orders confiscation of ships, 335 
Narber preaches to Indians, 50 
Narragansett, Massachusetts and 

Connecticut both claim, 177 
Narragansetts, besiege Uncas, 23; 

connections of, 30; only tribe not 

conquered by Pequots, 31; sign 

treaty of peace with English, 39; 

Pequots try to make allies of, 39; 

Miantonomo sachem of the, 45; 

treaty with Connecticut, 46; very 

powerful, 181 
National, Merchants under charter of, 

401 
Academy of Design, Morse first 

president of, 517; Shumway a 

student at, 518; J. B. Flagg's work 

at, 519; Hubbard a member of, 520 



National Era, Uncle Tom's Cabin 
published in the, 506 

Nature and the Supernatural God, etc., 
by Bushnell, 505 

Naugatuck or Mattatuck, 25 

River, Litchfield watered by 

the, 198; Humphrey builds on, 
363 

Nawaas, Indian tribe at Hartford, 4; 
at South Windsor, 29 

Netherlands, reference to, no 

New Amsterdam, becomes New York, 
173 

Britain, Normal School at, 214, 

216, 225; evening schools in, 216; 
trade school in, 216; free high 
school in, 224; hardware manu- 
facture in, 364; Children's Home at, 
481; referred to, 483; increase in 
value, 549 

Canaan in Connecticut bound- 
ary, 175 

Cheshire, Bellamy born in, 275 

Neiv Connecticut, later named Ver- 
mont, 199 

Connecticut, by Alcott, 505 

New Divinity doctrine, 370 

England, towns join confeder- 
acy of, 21; Puritans emigrate to, 
77; joyous over charter, 78; Pyn- 
chon's book in, 121 ; ruling elders in, 
132; orders against Quakers in, 138; 
enemies scheme to consolidate, 140; 
indictment against witches in, 
145; unsettled state of, 164; Sir 
Andros to be governor-in-chief of, 
168; in expedition against Canada, 
178; Harvard supported by, 228; 
Indian paths in, 249; birth of, 
theology, 274; commissioners from, 
308; discontent in, 334 ff. 

New England's Canaan, by Thomas 
Morton, 36 

New England Conference purchases 
grounds, 242 

" New England Farm Scene Painter, " 
Durrie called the, 520 

New England First Fruits quoted, 126 

New England Institution for Blind, 

474 
New England Psalm-singer published, 

526 

New England Union, forming of the, 
15 

New England Weekly Review, Pren- 
tice in charge of, 505 

New Hampshire, Mason attorney- 
general in, 97; slave dealings in, 



592 



Index 



New Hampshire (Continued) 

156; Connecticut people in, 206; 

Wheelock's Indian school in, 245; 

delegates from, 336 ; canal extended 

to, 416 
New Hampshire Grants, Allen moves 

to, 199 
New Hartford, 198; asks for highway, 

259 

Haven, 15, 21, 82, 93, 167, 

483, 547; new settlement at, 17; 
elaborate homes in, 17 el seq.; mi- 
gration from, 21; courts to sit at, 
22; Indians hold bay of, 28; meeting 
place in, 60; townsmen in, 71; 
foundations laid for, 76; Milford 
and Guilford join, 76; within Con- 
necticut boundary, 78 ; remonstrates 
with Connecticut, 78; does not 
recognize Connecticut government, 
79; towns of, secede, 79; received 
separate laws from England, 79; 
claims taxes from towns, 79; Mas- 
sachusetts advises to yield, 80; 
given to York without her 
knowledge, 80; prefers Connecti- 
cut to York, 80; joins Connecticut, 
80; made a county, 84; Supreme 
Court to meet at, 86; Common 
Pleas Court in, 86; worshipers in, 
121; church in, 126; loss of fran- 
chise in, 129; change of church 
rules in, 133; voluntary support of 
religion in, 134; one of consociations 
in, 136; treatment of Quakers in, 
138; makes law against witchcraft, 
146; no executions, 153; negroes 
suggest college in, 161; regicide 
judges escape to, 165; officers of 
the king go to, 165; population of, 
181; leagues with other colonies, 
181 et seq.; commerce between 
Barbadoes and, 1 86 ; dangerous trip 
to Boston from, 186; becomes a 
lawful port, 187; first window glass 
made in, 193; expedition leaves, 
205; school in, 207; free school 
ordered in, 207; educational law in, 
208; support of school in, 210; 
Hopkins's gift to, 211; normal 
school at, 216; evening schools in, 
216; Grove Hall School at, 222; 
free high school in, 224; free public 
library in, 227; ministers meet in, 
228; college wanted in, 228; college 
trustees meet in, 229; wants Yale 
College, 230; trustees vote for Yale 
at, 231 ; first commencement at, 231 ; 



women give infirmary, 239; taverns 
in, 255; transportation from Hart- 
ford to, 256; Great Awakening in, 
267; asks for Ingersoll's resignation, 
281 ; Tryon's march on, 287 ;Tryon's 
attack on, 291; Sherman moves to, 
298; mail route to, 311; Connecticut 
Gazette started at, 3 1 1 ; stage to, 3 1 2 ; 
type foundry at, 313; Connecticut 
Silk Society at, 314; linen factories 
at, 315; bank organized in, 322; 
savings bank in, 322; meeting held 
at, 347, 348; incorporated, 355; 
newspaper in,_ 355; shops in, 355; 
commerce revived in, 355; Center 
Church in, 357; Goodyear born in, 
360; rubber shoes made in, 361; 
Mutual Security Company in, 402; 
American Mutual Life Insurance 
Co. of, 407; canal from Southwick 
to, 415; railroad from Meriden to, 
416; railroad from Hartford to, 417; 
trains from New York to, 41 7 ; trains 
between New London and, 417; 
help for poor in, 420; residence law 
in, 422; house of correction in, 426; 
workhouse in, 431; dispensary in, 
432; care of children in, 436; orphan 
asylum at, 479 ; St. Francis Orphan 
Asylum at, 483 ; Winthrop born at, 
508; Jocelyn born in, 518; Durrie 
born in, 520; population of, 548; 
increase in value, 549 

and Northampton Co., or- 
ganized, 415; chartered, 417 

Anti-Slavery Society 

founded, 377 

New Haven's Case Stated, paper pre- 
sented to Connecticut, 80 

New Haven Clock Company, Jerome 
forms, 357 

Colony, fundamental arti- 
cles of, 19 

Confederacy, towns ad- 
mitted to, 22 

County, Fifteenth Regi- 
ment from, 385 

Court House, 524 



New Haven Gazette, Anarchiad pub- 
lished in, 498 

New Haven Grays, the, a militia 
company, 382 

Hartford, and Springfield 

consolidated, 417 

Hospital, appropriation to, 

432 

Insurance Co., Shipman 

establishes, 393 



Ind 



ex 



593 



New Haven Orphan Asylum, char- 
tered, 481 

Symphony Orchestra, 535 

Theology, 512 

Turnpike, 263 

Jersey, commissioners from, 

178, 308; Connecticut people in, 
206 

Lights, dissensions between Old 

and, 271 ff. ; the, in Connecticut, 
367 

London, settling of, 22; Mason 

and Stoughton at, 44; Particular 
Court held in, 83; made a county, 
84; Common Pleas Court in, 86; 
first printing-press set up in, 114; 
one of consociations in, 136; 
Quaker meeting broken up in, 139; 
Rogerines make trouble near, 142; 
negroes' building in, opposed, 158; 
southern boundary to, lighthouse 
of , 1 75 ; Dolphin, a ship belonging to, 
186; commerce carried on from, 
187; referred to, 187, 227, 483, 
547; coasters and skippers of, 189; 
first shipbuilder of, 189; first light- 
house at, 190; reputation for large 
ships, 190; educational law in, 208; 
evening schools in, 216; punishment 
in schools in, 220; girls' academy at, 
222; women's college to open in, 
243; road from Norwich to, 250; 
first post road through, 250; 
Arnold attacks, 290; post-office at, 
311; mail route to, 311; whaling 
port, 312; ships at, 313; savings 
bank in, 322; Union Bank in, 322; 
militia meet in, 333; ammunition 
comes from, 334; silk industry in, 
364; railroad from Norwich to, 416; 
trains between New Haven and, 
417; trains from Stonington to, 4 1 7 ; 
house of correction in, 426 
— County, 177 

County Mutual, 403 



New London Gazette, advertisement 
from, quoted, 160 

New London Northern, the, char- 
tered, 417 

New London Summary started, 311 

Tryall, New London's first 

merchant vessel, 189 

New London Turnpike Co., charter 
of, 259 

Milford, 198; Sherman from, 

298 

Netherlands, Charles gives, to 

brother, 200 
38 



Orleans, Jackson's victory at, 

337 

Preston, Wauramaug school at, 

223 

New Way, 527 

New York, 93, 141 ; Hyde chancellor of, 
98 ; Miss Crandall confers with abo- 
litionists of, 161 ; thought too grasp- 
ing, 164; boundary dispute with 
Connecticut, 172 et seq.; New 
Amsterdam becomes, 173; bound- 
ary agreement between Connec- 
ticut and, quoted, 173; does not 
abide by agreement, 173; boundary 
claims of, 174; conference between, 
and Connecticut, 174; boundaries 
of, 175; new governor of, 178; in 
expedition against Canada, 178; 
Connecticut sends troops to, 178; 
commissioners from, 178; coast 
trade with, 189; battery guns at, 
192; claims Connecticut territory, 
199; Connecticut people in, 206; 
women give Yale infirmary, 239; 
mounted post from Boston to, 250; 
Madame Knight travels to, 251; 
Connecticut soldiers in, 286, 287; 
stage from Litchfield to, 312; stage 
connections with, 355; missiona- 
ries go to, 370; insurance agency in, 
396; great fire of, 397; trains from 
New Haven to, 417 

and New Haven, consol- 
idated, 417; opened to public, 417 

, New Haven, and Hart- 
ford, 419 

and Stonington Railroad 

Company, 416 

, Bank of, Wadsworth 

president of, 393 

City Hall, portrait of La- 
fayette in, 517 

, Providence, and Boston 

Railroad Co., 416 

New York World quoted, 383 

Newark, migration from Connecticut 
to, 21; expedition arrives at, 205 

Newberry, Walter, gives to library, 
226 

Newbury, John H., organ given by 
family of, 239 

Newberry Library, Newberry's dona- 
tion to, 226 

Newbury makes offers to settlers, 17 

Newgate, referred to, 85; Loyalists 
imprisoned at, 295; fortunes of 
prison at, 439; prison in, 439; 
women prisoners at, 440 



594 



Index 



Newington, brick supply in, 3; re- 
ferred to, 24, 196; Home for Incur- 
ables at, 481 

Newman, Robert, meeting held in 
barn of, 18, 76; one of pillars of 
church, 19 

Newton, Hubert A., an astronomer, 

237 

Newtowne, discontent in, 7; church 
goes to Hartford, 54; changed to 
Hartford, 56 

Niagara Falls, expedition reaches, 204; 
painting of, by Earl, 515 

Niantic, Mason's party reaches, 42 

Niantics, connections of the, 30 

Nichols, James, secretary of Nation- 
al, 401 

Nicolls, Colonel Richard, arrival of, 
80; Winthrop yields Long Island 
to, 80; Dutch surrender to, 173 

Niemeyer, John H., 523 

Niles, J. M., votes admission of 
Texas, 379 

Ninigret, a Pequot chief, 38 

Nipmuck, settlers go to, 198 

Nipmucks in Tolland and Windham, 
29 

Norfolk, land granted in, 232; Mans- 
field captures, 385; Alcott opens 
school in, 504; Choral Union at, 534 

Normal schools in Connecticut, 216; 
at New Britain, 225 

North, James, starter of hardware 
industry, 364 

North Haven, brick supply in, 3; 18 

Lebanon, Wheelock pastor at, 

245 

Madison, Munger born in, 522 

Northam, Charles H., hall named for, 
242 

Northampton, disaster in, 49; Ed- 
wards preaches in, 125 et seq.; 
Great Awakening in, 266 

Northfield, disaster in, 49 

Northrop, B. G., originator of Arbor 
Day, 225 

Northrop, Cyrus, president Univer- 
sity of Minnesota, 247 

Norton, Captain, killed by Pequots, 
38 

Norton, Humphrey, banishment of, 
138 

Norton, John P., starts chemistry 
school, 238 

Norwalk, settling of, 23; evening 
schools in, 216; Tryon destroys, 
291; stage to, 312; manufactures 
started in, 314 



Norwich, partly on glacial sand plain, 
3; preparations for settling of, 23; 
settling of, 24; Uncas sells lots near, 
46; vote passed in, 96; inventory 
of possessions of a lady, 112; Dr. 
Bushnell of, 114; bounties given for 
rattlesnakes in, 118; reference to, 
124, 207, 227, 483, 547; Rogerines 
arrested in, 142; collectors appoint- 
ed in, 143; Uncas deeds, 177; first 
paper manufactured in, 194; even- 
ing schools in, 216; girls' seminary 
in, 222; indicted for failing in 
schools, 223 ; Academy removed to, 
242; Fitch a native of, 247; road 
from New London to, 250; first 
chaise in, 254; sale of church pews 
in, 274; gift of, 281 ; men from, seize 
vessel, 288; Benedict Arnold born 
in, 289; post-office established in, 
311; bank organized in, 322 ; savings 
bank in, 322; cotton industry in, 
363; silk industry in, 364; men 
enlisted at, 382; meeting at, 398; 
railroad from New London to, 416; 
workhouse in, 431 ; Sheltering Arms 
Hospital at, 484; home for con- 
sumptives at, 484; Mrs. Sigourney 
born in, 504; Mitchell born in, 507; 
increase in value, 549 

and Worcester Railroad Co., 416 

Fire Insurance Co., 398 

Free Academy incorporated, 223 

Hospital for the Insane opened, 

468 

Marine Insurance Co. becomes 

Fire Insurance Co., 398 



O 



Oberlin, Finney president of, 247 
Occum, Samson, a converted Indian, 
51; is ordained, 51; goes to Eng- 
land for money, 52 
Ohio, Connecticut gets tract in, 203, 
308 ; migration to, 203 et seq. ; Cutler 
speaks for, 203 ; Connecticut people 
in, 206; sales in, for school fund, 
212; missionaries go to, 370 
Old Connecticut Path, Holland writes 
of, 249, 250 

North Road built, 259 

Saybrook, Acton Library at, 227 

Old-Town Folks, by H. B. Stowe, 506 
Oldham, John, sets out to explore 
Connecticut River, 5; settlers 
follow path of, n; among " Adven- 
turers," 11; Pequots kill, 38 



Ind 



ex 



595 



Olmstead, Denison, professor at Yale, 

236 
Olney, Jesse, Atlas Geography , by , 220, 

503 
On a Portrait of Red Jacket, by Hal- 

leck, quoted, 502 
Oneida Indians, Kirkland missionary 

to the, 245 
Onondaga, 31 
Ontario, Lake, expedition reaches, 

204 
Orange Judd Hall erected, 243 
Order of Cincinnati, 342 
Ordinance, Cutler's part in drafting 

of, 226 

Northwest, 203 

Ore Hill, ore first discovered at, 191 
Oregon, slavery prohibited in, 378 
Orient, successor City Fire Insurance 

Co., 403; pays Boston losses, 

403 
Oriental, Salisbury first, scholar, 237 
Osburn Hall built, 239 
Osgood, S. S., a portrait painter, 

5i8 
Outcast, and other Poems, The, by 

Goodrich, 504 
Owen, John J., on faculty of New 

York City College, 246 
Owenico, son of Uncas, 46 



Pacific Ocean, charter bounds to 

the, 199 
Packer, Asa, developer of Lehigh 

Valley Railroad, 226 
Paine, Richard P., conductor Choral 

Union, 534 
Paine, Solomon, the Clevelands hear, 

271 
Palmer, urged fortifying of Bunker 

Hill, 285 
Palmer, Mrs. William H., land given 

by, 476 
Paper, first factories in Connecticut, 

194 
Paris, Gallaudet at, 472 
Parker, Horatio, works of, 535 
Parker Academy in Woodbury, 223 
Parley, Peter, Goodrich writes under 

name of, 504 
Parley's Magazine, 504 
Parliament, bill to consolidate New 

England in, 140; forbids paper 

money, 320 
Parsons, S. H., one of "committee," 

283 



Particular Court, organized, 83; 

changed to the Quarter Court, 83; 

becomes Court of Assistants, 84 
Partridge, Captain Alden, opens 

academy, 242 
Pastoral Union controls Theological 

Seminary, 244 
Paterson, Edward, an Irishman, 190 
Paterson, William, an Irishman, 190 
Patient Killed by a Cancer Quack, A, 

quoted, 499 
Patrick, Captain, on way to join 

Mason, 42 
Patterson, William, presents Jersey 

Plan, 301 
Paugussetts, Indian inhabitants of 

Connecticut, 29; Ansantawae sa- 
chem of, 35 
Pawcatuck River, boundary in middle 

channel of, 177; Rhode Island 

secures, 177 
Peabody Museum, founding of, 237; 

paleontological collection in, 240; 

5" 

Pease, Captain Levi, famous stage- 
driver, 257, 419; starts stage-route, 

257 
Peck, Elizabeth, testimony of, 445 
Peck, Paul, testimony of, 445 
Peekskill, line at, 173 
Pembascus shoots last wolf, 117 
Penn, William, helps Quakers, 139; 
given grant in Pennsylvania, 200; 
212 
Pennsylvania, Connecticut claims 
part of, 200; Penn given grant in, 
200; objects to treaty, 200; Wyom- 
ing given to, 201 ; Connecticut 
people in, 206; petition to Congress 
from, 308 
Pequot Hill, statue of Mason on, 46 

Path, post road follows, 250 

Pequots, Uncas seeks to be head of, 
5; forts and wigwams of the, 29; 
conquer Quinnipiacs, 30; war with 
Narragansett Indians, 30; unable 
to conquer Narragansetts, 31; 
begin their outrages, 38; torture of 
Englishmen by, 39; try to make 
allies of Narragansetts, 39 ; General 
Court decides to war against, 40; 
Underhill defeats the, 40; Mason's 
army attacks, 43; "wiped out" 
by Mason, 43 et seq.\ Stoughton 
kills remains of, 44; slavery in time 
of war with, 155; war with, re- 
ferred to, 181 
Percival, Edwin, sketches by, 517 



596 



Index 



Percival, James G., a poet-geologist, 

5° 2 
Perkins, Isaac, secretary /Etna Co., 

399 
Perkins, Joseph, enlists as volunteer, 

382 
Perkins, Thomas C, secretary of the 

Protection, 400 
Perkins School, education of blind at, 

474 . , . 

Peters, Rev. Hugh, arrival of, 14 

Peters, Samuel, a history by, 93; Sons 
of Liberty attack, 94; goes to 
England via Boston, 94; spiteful 
history of Connecticut by, 94; 
quoted, 95, 103, 117; referred to, 
103 

Peter's Spies, punishment of, 294 

Phelps, Dr. Guy R., Connecticut 
General Life started by, 408 

Phelps, Mrs. Almira, sister of Mrs. 
Willard, 225 

Phelps, Oliver, sells Ohio land, 203 

Phelps, William, made an authority, 
55; one of the "Corte, " 81 

Phelps Memorial Hall built, 239 

Philadelphia, Arnold in command at, 
290; convention held at, 298; boat 
to, 313; paper money in, 321; 
Bank of North America in, 393 

Philip, King, sachem of the Wam- 
panogs, 47; war with, 47; attacks 
Swanzey, 48; Connecticut during 
war, 123 

Phoenix, the, organized, 402; pays 
Chicago losses, 403 

Mutual Life Insurance Co., Tem- 
perance Insurance changed to, 410 

Pierce, Sarah, teaches girls' school, 
222 

Pierpont, John, an anti-slavery poet, 

Pierson, Abraham, comes to Connec- 
ticut, 21; made minister of church, 
2 1 ; preaches to Indians, 50 

Pierson, John, 379 

Pierson, Rev. Abraham, made rector 
of college, 229; death of, 230 

Pierson Hall built, 239 

Pigott, Rev. George, a missionary 
priest, 141 

Pilgrims, Dutchman tells, of Blok's 
find, 5; claims ignored by Dor- 
chester people, 13; few in Con- 
necticut, 101; renounce Church of 
England, 101 

Pinchot, James W., gives School of 
Forestry, 239 



Pinckney, suggestion by, 302 

Piscataqua denied admission to 
league, 182 

Pitkin, Caleb, founder Western Re- 
serve University, 246 

Pitkin, Colonel Joseph, home of, in 
East Hartford, 106 

Pitkin, William, on building com- 
mittee, 59; interviews Fletcher, 
178; reference to, 280 

Pitkin & Co., Samuel, makers velvet, 
etc., 315 

Plainfield, settling of, 26; Quinnabaug 
Plantation changed to, 196; border 
war with Canterbury, 197; first 
town meeting in, 198; first academy 
in, 221; highway to go to, 252; 
ordered to lay out road, 253; cotton 
industry in, 363 

Plan for Improving Female Education, 
by Mrs. Willard, 224 

Plant, Morton F., endows woman's 
college, 243 

Plantation Committee, 420 

Court, establishing of, 21 

Plattsburg, Arnold in naval battle 
at, 290 

Plymouth, sends boat to Connecticut, 
5; signs treaty with Dorchester 
people, 14; referred to, 15, 199; 
policy of, 130; population of, 181; 
leagues with other colonies, 181 
et seq.; disagrees with Massachu- 
setts, 182; Seth Thomas factory in, 
358 

Company, sale made by, 202 

Great Meadow, Ludlow settles 

on, 13 

Rock, Blok passes, 5; 557 

Pocahontas an Algonkin Indian, 28 

Pocanokets referred to, 46 

Pocomtocks referred to, 46 

Podunks, homes of, 29 

Poetical Meditations, by Wolcott, 497 

Point Judith, Mason's party passes, 

41 
Policy Number Two, 392 
Pomeraug, 25 
Pomfret, first town meeting in, 198; 

Library Association formed by, 311; 

and Mortlake Library, 311 
Manufacturing Co., mill erected, 

3 6 3 , 

Pond Rock, forming of mountain 

called, 3 
Poor, chapter in laws called, 424 
Port Chester, road from Westerly to, 

262 



I nd 



ex 



597 



Porter, Admiral, Terry cooperates 
with, 389 

Porter, Augustus, conducts expedi- 
tion, 203 

Porter, General Peter B., services of, 

334 

Porter, Noah, becomes head of Yale, 

238; incorporator Invalid Home, 

491 
Porter, Sarah, head of Farmington 

School, 222 
Portland, sandstone at, 3 
Portrait of a Child, work of Wright, 

521 
Portsmouth, Jeffrey from, 190 
Postal system, first, in America 

started, 250 
Potomac, Ward organises flotilla of 

the, 384 
Potter, Horatio, on Washington's 

faculty, 241 
Potter, Louis, painter and sculptor, 

522; works of, 522 
Poughkeepsie, stage to, 312 
Powhatan, Algonkin Indian, 28 
"Practice Act," Connecticut enacts, 

98 
Pratt, John, keeper of prison house, 

438 
Prentice, George D., editor, 505 
Presbyterian, a compromise with, 

theory, 135 
Presbyterianism, leaning towards, 131 
Prescott urged fortifying of Bunker 

Hill, 285 
Preston, Prentice born in, 505 
Prevost, letter to, quoted, 331 
Prince, Thomas, quoted, 122 
Princeton, Ericsson designer of the, 

3 8 7 
Prison Discipline Society, report of, 

440, 441 
Prisoners' Friends Corporation, 453 
Privy Council, settles boundary 

question, 177; decides in favor of 

Connecticut, 178; Leete's report to 

the, 188; 343 
Probate Courts, growth of, 86; in 

1913. 87 

Prometheus, by Percival, 502 

Prosser Farm Cottage, in Bloomfield, 
481 

Protection, insurance company, incor- 
porated, 400; the, collapses, 401 

Providence, Pequot Path to, 250; 
first post road through, 250; high- 
way to go through, 252; mail route 
to, 311; Brownell born in, 521 



Prudden, Peter, leads first settlers 
on Housatonic, 20 

Public Utilities Commission ap- 
pointed, 418 

Punderson, John, one of pillars of 
church, 19 

Purcell, Henry, 526 

Puritan Decline, The, 1 22 

Puritans, 101; family worship among, 
121 

Putnam, mill built in, 363 

Putnam, Israel, story of, in the wolf's 
den, 117; frees his slave, 157; re- 
ference to, 281; goes to the war, 
284; services of, at Boston, 285; 
commissioned by Congress, 286 

Pym, John, Hooker related to, 8 

Pynchon, John, writes book on 
Atonement, 121; Massachusetts 
burns book by, 121 

Pynchon, Thomas R., succeeds Good- 
win, 242; a distinguished chemist, 
5io 

Pynchon, William, settles Spring- 
field, 12; heads emigration from 
Roxbury, 53; representative of 
Roxbury party, 54; made an 
authority, 55; monopoly of trade 
with Indians, 56; fined for bad 
faith, 57 

Pyquag or Wethersfield, "Adven- 
turers" settle in, 1 1 



Q 



Quakers, teachings of the, 121; Con- 
necticut's treatment of, 137 et seq.; 
orders in New England to abolish 
all, 138; queen annuls law against, 
139; challenge establishment, 142 

" Quaneh-ta-cut, " Indian name for 
Connecticut River, 4 

Quarter Court, Particular Court 
changed to the, 83; became Court 
of Assistants, 84 

Quebec, Arnold in, 290 

Queen Anne's War, effect on Con- 
necticut, 123 

Quinnabaug Plantation, changed to 
Plainfield, 196 

Quinnebaug River, Owenico's land 
on the, 46; new road from, 253 

Quinnipiac, New Haven first called, 
17; Turner goes to, 22 

Quinnipiacs, on the shore of the Con- 
necticut, 28; Pequots conquer the, 
30 



598 



Index 



Railroad Commissioners, General 
Assembly creates, 418 

■ Era helps industry, 417 

Randolph, threatens Connecticut, 
168 el seq.; serves writs on Con- 
necticut, 169; Virginia Plan pre- 
sented by, 300 

Raymond, Joshua, surveys new road, 
251 

Red Island, Rhode Island named, by 
Blok, 4 

Red Jacket, Cleaveland wins con- 
fidence of, 204 

Reeve, Tapping, founder of law 
school, 97 ; quoted, 156; law writ- 
ings by, 512 

"Reforming Synod" called by Gen- 
eral Court, 122 

Regicides, escape and pursuit of the, 

164/. , t . 

Religion, voluntary support of, in 
Connecticut, 134 

Religious Pedagogy, School of, Sem- 
inary includes, 245 

Religious Poems, by H. B. Stowe, 506 

Republican, Baldwin helps form, 
party, 379 

Republicans, Federal leaders attack, 
347; lose election, 347 

Restless, Blok's yacht, 4 

Retreat, hospital for insane, 432 

Reveries of a Bachelor, by Mitchell, 
508 

Revolution, slaves during the, 158 

Reynolds, Charles, steam carriage 
patented by, 365 

Rhode Island, named Red Island by 
Blok, 4; within Connecticut bound- 
ary, 78; refuge of the oppressed, 
148; referred to, 164; submits to 
king, 1 70; secures Pawcatuck River, 
177; given to Massachusetts, 177; 
denied admission to league, 182; 
Barnard is school superintendent 
in, 225; votes for, 297; delegates 
from, 336 

Assembly of, votes for high- 
way, 252 

Rich, Isaac, builds Wesleyan library, 

243 
Richter, Buck a pupil of, 533 
Ridgefield, Northrop a native of, 247; 

Goodrich born in, 504 
Rietz, Buck a pupil of, 533 
Right of Conscience Inalienable, by 

Rev. John Leland, 343 



Ripley, Edwin R., succeeds Brace, 400 

Rippowams or Stamford, purchase 
and settling of, 21 

Rise and Fall of the Slave Power, by 
Henry Wilson, 161, 376 

River Fight, poem by Brownell, 507 

Robins, Ephraim, general agent Pro- 
tection, 400 

Robinson, Edward, teacher and au- 
thor, 510 

Rochambeau in military conference, 
292 

Rock Nook Home of Norwich, 482 

Rockville, mill built in, 363; silk 
industry in, 364 

Rockwell, Dr., head Vermont Asylum, 

465 

Rocky Hill, 24, 196 

Rodman, 391 

Rogerines, 137 ; begin to make trouble, 
142; arrested in Norwich for travel- 
ing, 142; try to break up Sunday 
meetings, 142 

Rogers, Commodore C. R. F., from 
Connecticut, 387 

Rogers, Commodore John, from 
Connecticut, 386 

Rogers, John, followers of, 142 

Rogers, Simeon S., electroplating 
invented by, 359 

Root, Jesse, at convention, 350 

Rosebery, Lord, 471 

Rossia Insurance Co. of St. Peters- 
burg, 403 

Rous, John, a Quaker preacher, 138; 
testifies in favor of Connecticut, 

139 

Rowland, T. F., makes "iron bat- 
tery," 388 

Roxbury, people of, change, 12; Pyn- 
chon leaves, 53; settlers from, 198; 
Warner born in, 199 

Russell, Rev. John, conceals judges, 
166 

Russell, Rev. Nodiah, appointed 
librarian, 229 

Russell, Thomas W., president Con- 
necticut General Life, 408 

Russell, William, quoted, 125 

Rye, New York receives, 174; Mad- 
ame Knight reaches, 252 



Sable, Cape, Augur dies at, 186 
Sachem's Head, naming of, 45 
Saffery surveys Massachusetts bound- 
ary, 176 



Index 



599 



Sag Harbor, Meigs's attack on, 291 
St. Francis Orphan Asylum at New 

Haven, 483 
Genevieve, first western mines 

in, 204, 205 
James Asylum at Hartford, 483 

John's Church House in Stam- 
ford, 482 

Industrial School at Deep 

River, 483 

Lawrence River, canal to be 

joined to, 415 

Louis, Lyon in charge of arsenal 

a t, 383; great fire of, 401 

Margaret's School at Water- 
bury, 222 

— — Paul's, Buck organist at, 533 

Salem, Higginson preached in, 122; 
Deborah Wilson in, 138; witch- 
craft rages in, 146; 152 

Salisbury, Edward E., professor of 
Arabic, 237; Whitney a pupil of, 

510 

Salisbury, Bear Mountain in, 1 ; iron 
mines at, 3, 191; guns made of, 
iron, 192; referred to, 198; sale of, 
212; Scoville Library in, 227; can- 
nons made in, 291; iron works at, 
314; railroad to run through, 416 

Saltonstall, Gurdon, governor of 
Connecticut 17 years, 73; portrait 
of family of, 515 

Saltonstall, Lake, mill installed on, 

Sandemanians, beginning of the, 278 
Sanford, Samuel, and the Yale 

School of Music, 535 
Sanford, Thomas, an underwriter, 

392 ; forms insurance company, 393 
Sanford, Zachary, grandson of Adams, 

59; becomes landlord of tavern, 59; 

death of, 59 
Sanskrit, Whitney's works in, 510 
Saratoga, Arnold at, 290 
Sassacus, made sachem of Pequots, 31 ; 

a Pequot chief, 38 ; residence of, 42 ; 

Mason tracks, 44; beheaded by 

Mohawks, 45 
Saugatuck, Tryon lands at, 290 
Sausaman, J., betrays Indians, 48; a 

Christian Indian, 48; murdered by 

King Philip, 48 
Savings banks, beginning of, 322 
Savoy Confession adopted by the 

Synod, 135 
Say, Lord, associate of Ludlow, 75; 

interested in colonies, 77 
Saybrook, on a glacial sand plain, 3; 



provisions blocked at, 1 1 ; becomes 
a, Connecticut township, 16; referred 
to, 23; Gardner in command of fort 
at, 39; attack on men of, 39; fort 
at, besieged, 39; Englishmen reach, 
40; Synod meets at, 135; Capt. 
Bull in command of, 173; becomes 
a port of entry, 187; becomes a law- 
ful port, 187; academy in, 222; Sea- 
bury Institute in, 224; proposed for 
college site, 229; first commence- 
ment in, 230; wants Yale College, 
231; objects to library's removal, 
231; people of, destroy books, 231; 
Madame Knight reaches, 251; 
British destroy property at, 333 

Platform formed, 135; referred 

t°> I 37i 34 1 ! General Assembly 
adds to the, 140; faculty must as- 
sent to, 232; continuance of, 273; 
churches repudiate, 274; disappear- 
ance of, 277; Short publishes, 311 

■ ■ Point, John Tully of, 1 13 

Schneider, Buck studies under, 533 
Scholfield, Arthur, woolen machines 

started by, 363 
Scholfield, John, woolen machines 

started by, 363 
School, early, in Connecticut, 207 ff. 

Commissioners, bill provides, 

225 

for Imbeciles, 437 

Fund in Connecticut, 210 

School Journal, Connecticut Common, 

founded, 214 
School of Forestry, Pinchot gives, 

239 
Schoolmaster's Assistant, The, Da- 
boll's arithmetic, 220 
Scotland, killing of witches in, 145 
Scott, General Winfield, referred to, 

331; quoted, 382 
Scottish Union and National Insur- 
ance, agency in Hartford for, 403 
Scoville, Hoadley designs, house, 523 
Scoville Library in Salisbury, 227 
Scranton Memorial library at Madison, 

227 
Sea-bird's Song, The, by Brainard, 

503 

Seabury, Bishop, reference to con- 
secration of, 240 

Seabury, Samuel, made Bishop of 
Connecticut, 141 et seq. 

Seabury College at Cheshire, 240; 
very limited charter for, 240 

Hall built, 241 

Institute incorporated, 224 



6oo 



Index 



Seager, Mrs. Richard, Ann Cole de- 
nounces, as a witch, 148 

Sedgwick, John, services and death 
of, 390 

Seely, Capt., death of, 48 

Seelye, Julius H., president Amherst 
College, 246 

Seelye, L. Clark, president Smith 
College, 246 

Sele, Lord, associate of Ludlow, 75; 
interested in colonies, 77 

Seminary of Saint Joseph in Hartford, 
224 

Senate, branch of legislature, 351 

Seney, George I., gives to Wesleyan, 

243 

Separatists, Clevelands attend a 
meeting, 271 ; send petition to King, 

273 . . 

Sequasson, son of Soheag, 6; deeds 

Hartford to Stone, 12; referred to, 

29; overthrown by the Pequots, 30; 

connections of, 30 
Sequins, Indian tribe at Middletown, 

4; Middletown capital of the, 29; 

31 

Seth Thomas Clock Company organ- 
ized, 358 
Sewall, Judge Samuel, prepares col- 
lege charter, 229 
Seymour, one of first libraries in, 227 
Shackmaple, John, appointment for, 

189 
Shad Spirit, The, by Brainard, 503 
Shakers, coming of the, 278 
Shanklin, William A., present presi- 
dent of Wesleyan, 243 
Sharon, 198; railroad to, 416 
Sheffield, Joseph E., donations of, 238 
Sheffield Scientific School, start of, 

238; Gilman a professor at, 247 
Sheldon, Elisha, refuses to witness 
ceremony, 280; cavalry formed by, 
285 
Sheltering Arms Hospital at Norwich, 

484 
Shelton, home for consumptives at, 

484 
Shepard, Joseph, testimony against, 

445 
Shepard, Thomas, quoted, 120 
Shepherd Boy and Washington, works 

of Bartholemew, 520 
Sherman, General, tribute to General 

Lyon by, 384 
Sherman, Roger, reference to, 73, 

3H. 554. 555; almanac by, 113; 

denounces slavery, 163; delegate to 



Congress, 281; at convention, 298; 
introduces Connecticut compro- 
mise, 301; quoted, 302, 304; signs 
Connecticut compromise, 304; on 
slavery question, 376; Earl paints 
portrait of, 515; Ives's statue of, 

519 
Shetucket River, first ferry across, 

9 6 

Shipman, Elias, forms insurance 

company, 393; establishes own 

business, 393 
Shipman House, fireplace in, 105 
Shore Line, the, chartered, 417 
Short, Thomas, first printing-press 

established by, 114, 311 
Shrewsbury, horses changed at, 257 
Shumway, Henry C, miniatures and 

portraits by, 518 
Sicard, Abb£, courtesy of, to Gallau- 

det, 472 
Sickness, law entitled, 425 
Sigourney, Mrs. Lydia H., books by, 

5°4 

Silkworms, first raised in Connecticut, 

193 

Sill, Edward Rowland, a lyric writer, 

509 
Silliman, Benjamin, added to Yale's 
faculty, 235; electrical experiments 
made by, 236; on medical faculty, 
236; starts chemistry school, 238; 
president American Mutual Life, 
407; American Journal of Science 
started by, 508 
Silliman, Benjamin, Jr., works on 

chemistry by, 510 
Silver City, Meriden called, 359 
Simsbury, settling of, 25; destroyed 
by Indians, 25; now Granby, 191; 
copper found in, 191; Westminster 
School in, 224; asks for highway, 
259; a Tory shot in, 294; a prisoner 
for debt at, 447 
Singapore, System of Practice in, 513 
Six Nations, Red Jacket of the, 204; 

Kirkland is missionary to, 226 
Slater, J. F., gives school building, 
223; gives museum to Norwich, 226 
Slater, Samuel, erects a mill, 363 
Slater Museum, Slater gives to Nor- 
wich, 226 
Slavery, justification of, quoted, 155 
Slaves, laws made for freeing of, 157 
Sloane, physical laboratory given, 239 
Sluys, Hans den, 14 
Smalley, John, born in Columbia, 275; 
Emmons a pupil of, 275 



Index 



601 



Smith, Augustus W., improvements 

at Wesleyan under, 243 
Smith, Elihu, one of "Hartford 

Wits," 498; American Poems, by, 

502 
Smith, Elizabeth, testifies against 

Mrs. Harrison, 151 
Smith, Henry, representative of 

Roxbury party, 54; made an 

authority, 55 
Smith, John Cotton, Federalist gov- 
ernor, 348 
Smith, Junius, organizer of steamship 

company, 365 
Smith, Nathan, on medical faculty, 

236 
Smith, President, of Trinity, 242 
Smith, Reuben, distillery run by, 369 
Smith, Samuel, first ship built by, 

186 
Smith, Widow, kills rattlesnakes, 

118 
Smith College, Seelye president of, 

247 
Smybert, John, a painter, 514 
Society for Savings of Hartford 

formed, 322 
Society for the Propagation of the Cos- 
pel, etc., 140 
Soheag, Sequasson son of, 6 
Solomon Love Song, reference to, 121 
Sons of Liberty, at odds with Peters, 

94; force Ingersoll to resign, 281 ; in 

every town, 283 
South Carolina, 28 
Glastonbury, Shipman House 

in, 105 
Manchester, silk thread made 

at, 364; Cheney born in, 518 

Wellington, thread made at, 363 

Windsor, 24; Nawaas at, 29; 

pays for bridge, 261; Terry leaves, 

3*4 

Southampton, party migrates from, 

21 

Southbury, settling of, 25 

Southerton, Stonington first called, 
22 

Southhold, beginning of, 21 ; admitted 
to Confederacy, 22; relief for poor 
in, 421 

Southington, Robinson born in, 510 

South wick, boundaries of, 176; Con- 
necticut and Massachusetts divide, 
176; canal from New Haven to, 415 

Ponds, canal to Long Island 

Sound from, 415 

Sowheag, Wethersfield sold by, 29 



Spain, academies of, 221 

Spanish merino sheep introduced in 

Connecticut, 314 
Sparks, Jared, a president of Harvard, 
247; Life and Writings of Washing- 
ton, etc., by, 502 
Spencer on committee, 90 
Sperry, N. D., indorses bond, 388 
Sphinx's Children, The, by Rose T. 

Cooke, 508 
Spottsylvania, Sedgwick killed at, 

390 
Spring, Samuel, trained by West, 277 
Springfield, or Agawam, settling of , 1 2 ; 
disaster in, 49; Pynchon reaches, 
53; Agawam changed to, 57; guns 
for arsenal at, 192; to, by stage- 
coach, 417 
Stafford, ironware made at, 315 
Stamford, or Rippowams, purchase 
and settling. of, 21, 123; in Con- 
necticut boundary, 175; becomes a 
lawful port, 187; evening schools 
in, 216; Betts Academy in, 223; 
Children's Home in, 482 
Stamp Act, repealed, 281; reference 

to the, 279, 556 
Congress, Johnson mem- 
ber of, 246 
Stancliff, J. W., a marine artist, 519 
Standard, new insurance company, 404 
Standing Order, 342 
Stanton, Henry B., 379 
Staples Academy at Fairfield, 221 
State Board of Charities, report of, 
433; organization of, 436 

House, specifications for, 59; 524 

Library, copy of seal in the, 99; 

Hoadley librarian of, 513; 524 
State Reform School, manual training 

at, 449 
State Sovereignty Plan, Jersey Plan 

becomes, 301 
Stedman, Edmund C, a poet-banker, 

509 
Steele, John, made an authority, 55; 
referred to, 76; one of the "Corte," 
81 
Steinert, antiques in, collection, 240 
Sterling, Captain, largest ship for, 190 
Sterling, cotton industry in, 363 
Steuben, Baron, teaches army, 285 
Steward, Joseph, a portrait painter, 

516; Waldo a pupil of, 516 
Stiles, Ezra, story about, and slaves, 
155; becomes president of Yale, 
234; interested in silk, 314; head 
Anti-Slavery Society, 375 



602 



Index 



Stoeckel, Carl, benefactor Choral 
Union, 533 

Stone, Captain, a trader, 38 

Stone, Samuel, travels with Hooker, 
8; in procession to Connecticut, 12; 
Hartford deeded to, 12; chaplain 
of ninety Englishmen, 40; a help 
to Mason, 41; prays for fighters, 
42; teaches in Indian school, 51; 
objects to Wigglesworth, 132; 
bitterness between Goodwin party 
and, 132; and witchcraft, 149 

Stonington, organization of, 22; Pe- 
quot strongholds at, 42; Connec- 
ticut claims, 78; first post road 
through, 250; attack by British on, 
287; Tory vessel seized at, 288; 
attack on, 333; railroad from, 416; 
trains from New London to, 417; 
Gurdon Trumbull born in, 521 

Stony Creek, stone from, 262 

Storrs Agricultural College, referred 
to, 540; publications of, 542 

Story, Professor, takes students to 
Glastonbury, 235 

Stotesbury, E. T., gives house for 
blind, 476 

Stoughton, Mason joins, 44; kills re- 
maining Pequots, 44; tracks Sas- 
sacus, 45 

Stowe, Harriet Beecher, Uncle. Tom's 
Cabin, by, 379; works of, 505, 506 

Stowe, Rev. Mr., of Middletown, 445 

Strafford, dark prospects under, 77 

Stratford, purchase and settling of, 
20; referred to, 29; new-comers 
settle in, 139; Episcopal Church 
built in, 141; becomes a lawful 
port, 187; academy at, 222; W. S. 
Johnson from, 246; Great Awaken- 
ing in, 267; Johnson born in, 298 

Strong, John, founds the True Repub- 
lican, 346 

Strong, Nathan, distillery owned by, 
369; Steward's portrait of, 516 

Stuart, Moses, a scholar and writer, 
510 

Sturtevant, G. J., founder Illinois 
College, 246 

Sudbury, disaster in, 49 

Sufferers' Lands or the Fire Lands, 
213; sold for school funds, 213 

Suffield, settling of, 24; disputed lands 
in, 176; Connecticut Literary In- 
stitute in, 223; one of first libraries 
in, 227; tobacco exported from, 
542 

Suffolk, Long Island, 51 



Summers in a Garden, My, by C. D. 
Warner, 508 

Sumner, Professor William G., works 
of, 511 

Sumter, fall of, 381 

Superior Court, meets at New Haven, 
60; supersedes Assistants' Court, 
85; members of, 86; General As- 
sembly appoints judges for, 86; 
power of, 86; 89, 493 

Supreme Court, justices of, 98; 343 

of Errors, formed, 86; 

ceases, 86 

Surrey, 20 

Susquehanna, district named West- 
moreland, 200; settlements in, 
district, 200 

Company formed, 200 

Swain, William, land sold to, 20; 
made an authority, 55; one of the 
"Corte, " 81 

Swanzey, Philip attacks, 48 

Swift, Zephaniah, treatise by, 97; 
referred to, 342, 349; policy of, in 
Herald, 346; on anti-slavery com- 
mittee, 376 

Sykes, Dr. F. H., to be president 
of new college, 243; Pease's helper, 

257 
Synod meets at Saybrook, 135 
System of Practice, by Field, Jr., 513 
of the Laws of the State of Con- 
necticut, treatise by Swift, 97 



Taconic School in Lakeville, 224 

Taintor, John A., cows bought by, 
542 

Talbot, John, complaints of Con- 
necticut by, 139; 140 

Talcott, Colonel, Earl paints portrait 

of, 515 

Talcott, Governor, ceases measures 
against Baptists, 139 

Talcott, John, referred to, 58 ; charter 
committed to, 78; Randolph serves 
writs to, 169 

Talcott, Joseph, on building com- 
mittee, 59 

Talcott Mountain, 2, 439 

Talcottville, mill built in, 363 

Tariffville, State paupers at, 433 

Taverns, laws for, 255 

Taylor, General, Mansfield under, 

385 
Taylor, Nathanael W., of the Divinity 
School, 236; a theologist, 512 



Index 



603 



Tennent, Rev. Gilbert, reference to, 
270 

Tennessee, missionaries go to, 370 
Terry, Alfred H., in command Second 

Regiment, 382; the services of, 389; 

made Provisional Major-General of 

Volunteers, 389 
Terry, Edward, from Connecticut, 386 
Terry, Eli, manufacturer of clocks, 

3H, 357; 358 

Terry, Eli, 2d, takes up lock business, 
360 

Terry, Eliphalet, meets insurance 
crisis, 397 

Terry, General Nathanael, in com- 
mand of State corps, 333; president 
Hartford Fire Insurance, 396 

Terry, Luther, 519 

Testimony to the Order of the Gospel, 
etc., by Higginson, 122 

Texas, Anglo-American, Austin, 
maker of, 204, 205 

votes for admission of, 379 

Thames, Blok passes, 4; Mohicans 
living on the, 30 

Thatcher, Thomas A., a Latin 
teacher, 237 

Theological Institute incorporated, 
244; changed to Hartford Theo- 
logical Seminary, 244 

Seminary, Hartford, founding 

of, 244 

Theology Explained and Defended, 
by D wight, 512 

"Thirty Years' Warfare," Connec- 
ticut Mutual in, 407 

Thomas, Seth, maker of clocks, 358 

Thomas, Theodore, 533 

Thompson, William, 244 

Thompson, poor roads through, 253; 
first roads in, 253; refreshments for 
army in, 288; cotton industry in, 
363 ; Town born in, 523 

Thoreau, 505 

Three Daughters of Job, by Percival, 

Three Notches, forming of mountain 

called, 3 
Ticonderoga, reference to, 259; first 

capture, 283 
Tierney, Bishop, Industrial School 

dedicated by, 483 
Tilley, James, manufactures cordage, 

291 
Tilly, Joseph, tortured by Pequots, 

39 

Tisdale, Elkanah, miniature painter, 

5i6 



Tobacco, first grown in Connecticut, 

192 
Todd, Dr. Eli, urges relief for insane, 

463; superintends Retreat, 464; 

many offers to, from other States, 

464; dies at Retreat, 465 
Toleration Act, first, passed, 133; 

referred to, 137, 140, 142; help to 

Baptists, 139 
party, fail to seat Wolcott, 348; 

triumph of, 350 
Tolland, Nipmuck Indians in, 29; 

referred to, 177; academy at, 222; 

West born in, 275 

County, division of, 197 

Tontine, Connecticut Mutual re- 
fuses to adopt, principle, 406 
Tories, 293 
Torrington, 198; S. J. Mills born in, 

275; Collis P. Huntington of, 365; 

John Brown born in, 379 
Town, Ithiel, designer, 523; works of, 

523 

Town Commons, 12 

Town Courts reorganized, 85 

Tracy, Uriah, at anti-slavery con- 
vention, 376 

Trade schools in Connecticut, 216 

Travelers Insurance Co., charter given 
to, 411 

Travels in New England, etc., by 
Timothy Dwight, 500 

Travis, Daniel, almanac by, 114 

Treadwell, John, ministers try to 
elect, 347; at convention, 350 

Treat, Governor, work of, 103; one of 
special court, 152; new charter 
delivered to, 169; favors surrender 
of charter, 169; debate with Andros, 
170; a comfort to the people, 172; 
sends troops to Albany, 178; 
Fletcher's commission presented to, 
179 

Treat, Major, in command of English, 
48 

Treat, Richard, father of Governor 
Treat, 103 

Trenton, boat to, 313 

Trinity Church, Town designs, 523 

College, now on " Gallows Hill, " 

149; the history of, 240; Washing- 
ton, changed to, 241 ; Hartford 
buys land for, 241; new buildings 
for, 242; the presidents of, 242; 
theological department in, 245; 
charter given to, 351; statue of 
Brownell at, 519 

Troy, Willard School in, 224 



604 



Index 



True Republican, Strong founds the, 

346 
Trumbull, Gurdon, a painter of fish, 

521 

Trumbull, J. Hammond, head of 
libraries, 513 

Trumbull, John, one of "Hartford 
Wits," 498; McFingal, a Modern 
Epic, by, 500; artistic career of, 

515 

Trumbull, 94, 280; Governor Jona- 
than, revision of laws by, 273; 
holds office, 280; sends letter to 
Gage, 283; Washington writes for 
aid to, 284; letter from Washington 
to, quoted, 288; urges help for 
army, 288; refuses military aid, 
336; quoted, 514; son of, an art- 
ist, 515; Ives's statue of, 519 

Trumbull, Silliman born in, 510 

Trumbull, war frigate, 291 

Trumbull Gallery, in the Art School, 
240; Augur's works in, 517 

Tryon, attack on New Haven by, 
234, 287; attacks Danbury, 290; 
Arnold heads off, 290; retires, 291 

Tuke, William, referred to, 464 

Tully, John, compiles first almanac, 

113 

Tunxis Indians, at the school, 51 

River, town built on banks of, 22 

Turner, Captain, made military 

officer, 22 
Turner's Dipsomaniac Retreat for 

drunkards, 491 
Tweed, Berwick on the, 187 
Twilight, statue by Warner, 522 
Twilight on John's Brook, work of 

Fitch, 521 
Tyler, Bennet, 244; president Theo- 
logical Seminary, 512 
Tyler, General Daniel, Connecticut 

regiments under, 382; prepares 

regiments, 385 
Tyrone, County, the Patersons from, 

190 

U 

Uncas, head of the Mohican Indians, 
5; Pilgrims receive Connecticut 
from, 6; Mason helps, 23; gives 
land to proprietors, 23; heir to the 
Pequots, 30; driven from his 
country, 30; welcomes English, 31; 
tracks Sassacus, 45 ; land deeded by, 
177; exchange made by, 178 

Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Beecher 
Stowe's, 379, 506 



Underhill, Captain John, takes pos- 
session of House of Hope, 7; wins 
battle with Pequots, 40; strengthens 
Mason's party, 41; leads part of 
army, 43; associate of Ludlow, 75 

Union Bank, chartered, 322; of 
New London, 392 

Insurance Co. of New London 

organized, 398 

Library Association formed, 311 

University, Knott benefactor of, 

246 

United Colonies of New England, The, 
league named, 183; constitution of, 

183 
United Kingdom, population of, 330 

States, first girls' school in, 222; 

population of, 330 

Arsenal at St. Louis, 383 

Commissioner of Educa- 
tion, Barnard is first, 225 

Supreme Court, Ellsworth's 



head in, 517 

Worker's Society starts Rock 

Nook Home, 482 

Universalists, 278 

University Hall dedicated, 239 

of California, Gilman first presi- 
dent of, 247 

of City of New York, Morse 

art professor at, 517 

of Georgia, Baldwin founder of, 

246 

of Minnesota, Northrop presi- 
dent of, 247 

Utica, Dana born at, 510 

Asylum, Brigham at, 465 



V 



Valley Forge, Connecticut helps 
army at, 284 

Railroad, the, chartered, 417 

— — Railway, 408 
Vanderbilt Hall erected, 239 
Vane, Sir Harry, arrival of, 14 
Vane, associate of Ludlow, 75 
Vergennes, French minister of foreign 

affairs, 287 
Vermont, exchange of slaves in, 156; 
first governor of, 199; land in, 199; 
first called New Connecticut, 199; 
Connecticut people in, 206; acad- 
emy moved to, 242 ; delegates from, 
336; missionaries go to, 370; canal 
extended to, 416 
Verrill, Addison E., studies of deep- 
sea life, 238 



Index 



605 



Virginia, trade with, 189; tobacco 

growing from, 192; votes for, 297; 

commissioners from, 308 

Plan put before convention, 300 

Vision of Columbus, The, by Barlow, 

quoted, 500 
Vyall, John, permission for tavern 

granted to, 255 

W 

"Wabbaquasset Country," Old 
Path through, 249 

Wadsworth, Daniel, president Saving 
Society, 322; son of Jeremiah, 394; 
gives to Historical Society, 513 

Wadsworth, Mrs. Daniel, reference 
to, 253 

Wadsworth, Jeremiah, an underwriter, 
392 ; forms insurance company, 393 

Wadsworth, Captain Joseph, spirits 
away and hides charter, 170; out- 
wits Fletcher, 179 

Wadsworth Atheneum, 523 

Gallery, Bartholemew in charge 

of, 520 

Wagner, Fort, Terry takes, 389 

Waite, Henry W., a Chief Justice of 
Supreme Court, 98 

Waite, M. R., a Chief Justice of the 
United States, 98 

Wakely, James, Bracy testifies 
against, 151 

Waldo, Samuel, a pupil of Steward, 
5i6 

Walker, Captain, in the slave trade, 
156 

Wallingford, 18, 462; purchase and 
settling of, 25; copper found in, 
191; evening schools in, 2 1 6 ; Acade- 
my at, 222 ; home for consumptives 
at, 484 

Walter, Thomas, music book by, 527 

Waltham, settlers take path through, 
11 

Wampanoags, King Philip sachem of, 

47 
Wangunks, Sequins called, 29 
Wapegoot, Pequot sachem, 31 
Ward, Andrew, made an authority, 

55; proposal of, 202 
Ward, Capt. James H., killed at 

Mathias Point, 384 
Ward, Henry, 373 
Ward, William, one of the "Corte, " 

81 
Wareham, associate of Ludlow, 75 
Warehouse Point, founding of, 53 



Warner, Charles Dudley, works of, 

508 
Warner, Olin L., sculptor, 522 
Warner, Seth, born in Roxbury, 199 
Warren's Address at Bunker Hill, 

quoted, 503 
Warren, Finney a native of, 247 
Warwick, Earl of, associate of Lud- 
low, 75; referred to, 166 
Warwick, highway to go through, 252 

Neck, 177 

patent, Winthrop represents, 56 

Washington, George, reference to, 
106, 108, 516; letter to Trumbull 
from, quoted, 288; in military con- 
ference, 292; advice to Trumbull 
by, 295; convention presided over 
by, 298; interested in broadcloth, 
315; quoted, 321; John Trumbull 
serves under, 515 
Washington, the Gunnery at, 223 

College, incorporated, 241; 

Hartford chosen as site for, 241; 
Brownell president of, 241; the 
faculty of, 241 ; changed to Trinity, 
241 
\\ ashington, D. C, Connecticut regi- 
ment reaches, 382 
Watch Hill, Mason's party passes, 41 
Waterbury, founding of, 25; evening 
schools in, 216; St. Margaret's 
school at, 222; Notre Dame school 
in, 224; Carter a native of, 247; 
Hopkins born in, 275; buttons 
made at, 315; railroad to, 417; 
reference to, 483; Hoadley born in, 
523 ; increase in value, 549 

Hospital, 483 

Watertown, Oldham sets out from, 
5; discontent in, 7; referred to, 9, 
54, 554; organizes town govern- 
ment, 10; pioneers from, 21; 
changed to Wethersfield, 56; lock- 
making started in, 360 
Watkinson Farm School for boys, 

479. 481 

Library, 513 

Watts's Hymns, 529 

Wauramaug School at New Preston, 

223 
Wayne, Anthony, campaign of, 203 
Webb House, rooms papered in, 106 
Webster, Daniel, writes of Mason, 98 
Webster, Noah, first school-book by, 
219; quoted, 219, 312; writes of 
academies, 221; replies to Bishop's 
address, 345; dictionary by, 503 
Weed, Mary, referred to, 463 



6o6 



Index 



Weeping Willow, by Mrs. Sigourney, 

5»4 

Weir, John F., 523 

Welch, hall built, 239 

Welles, Gideon, Secretary of Navy, 
223, 386; letter from to Bushnell, 
388; president Charter Oak Life, 
408 

Welles, John L., patents printing- 
press, 366 

Wells, Hugh, 150 

Wepawaugs, Indians on the Housa- 
tonic, 29; connections of, 30 

Wequash, Mason's Indian guide, 43 

Wesleyan University, founded, 242; 
first scientific course in, 243; presi- 
dents of, 243 

West, Benjamin, Earl a pupil of, 515; 
Trumbull a pupil of, 516; Waldo 
a pupil of, 516; Morse a pupil of, 

517 - , 

West, Steven, referred to, 274, 277; 

a scholar, 275 

West Greenwich, highway to go 
through, 252 

Hartford, 24; Rose Terry Cooke 

born in, 508 

Indies, trade with the, 156; 

salted fish for the, 186; goods 
shipped to, 188; horses shipped to, 
190 

Rock, judges hide in, 166 

Simsbury, Humphrey a native 

of, 246 

Suffield, Warner born in, 522 

Westchester, Connecticut claims, 78; 
Mrs. Harrison goes to, 152 

Westerly, road from Port Chester to, 
262 

Western Lands, 211 

Western Reserve of Connecticut, a 
tract in Ohio, 203; beginning of 
interests in the, 204; Connecticut 
gains, 308 

University, started by 

Connecticut man, 246; Hickock a 
professor in, 246 

Westminster, treaty of, 173 

Confession, 130 

School in Simsbury, 224 

Westmoreland, Susquehanna district 
named, 200; part of Litchfield 
County, 200; becomes a county, 
200; wiped out by Tories, 201 ; con- 
test over, 308 

Westover School, in Middlebury, 224 

Westwood, William, made an author- 
ity, 55; one of the " Corte," 81 



Wethersfield, or Pyquag, 11;" Adven- 
turers" settle in, 11; settlers from, 
20; land sold to people of, 21; 
migration from, 21 ; referred to, 24, 
53, 109, 134, 196; incorporated, 25; 
Pequots attack people of, 39; 
fighting men from, 40; the church 
in, 55; Watertown changed to, 56; 
townsmen in, 71; represented in 
" Corte, " 81 ; Particular Court held 
in, 83; Webb House in, 106; hemp 
raised in, no; bootmaker of, 112; 
disagreements in, 123; John Car- 
rington of, 147; Mary Johnson of, 
147; Katheran Harrison of, 150; 
first ship built in, 186; stave busi- 
ness in, 187; Emerson School in, 
223; one of first libraries in, 227; 
students go to, 230; wants Yale 
College, 231; students continue at, 
231 ; Dwight takes students to, 235; 
bad roads in, 253; a ferry near, 260; 
people of, force Ingersoll to resign, 
281; military conference held in, 
292; new prison at, 441; treat- 
ment in, prison, 441, 442; women 
in, prison, 446; Blackburn born in, 

515 

Whalley, Major-General Edward, 
one of the regicide judges, 164 

Wheaton, Nathanael S., succeeds 
Brownell, 241 

Wheelock, Rev. Eleazer, pastor at 
Lebanon, 51; begins school, 51; 
school for Indians started by, 245 

Whispers to a Bride, by Mrs. Sigour- 
ney, 504 

Whitaker, Nathaniel, goes to England 
for money, 52 

White, Andrew D., editor of maga- 
zine, 239 

White, Henry C, from Connecticut, 
386 

White Hall built, 239 

Whitfield, George, a revivalist, 233, 
267; preaches in colonies, 267 

Whitfield, Rev. Henry, head of set- 
tlers, 20; home of, in Guilford, 104 

Whiting, George E., Beethoven Soci- 
ety founded by, 535 

Whiting, Rev. John, forms Second 
Church in Hartford, 132; forbids 
Half-way Covenant, 133; describes 
Mrs. Greensmith, 148 

Whiting, William, representative for 
Connecticut, 169 

Whitman, Samuel, election sermon 
by, quoted, 125 



Index 



607 



Whitmore, W. H., writes of Black- 
burn, 515 
Whitney, Edward, gives school, 480 
Whitney, Eli, of cotton-gin fame, 

262, 315, 365; maker of firearms, 

361 
Whitney, William Dwight, professor 

of Sanskrit, 237, 510 
Whittier, John Greenleaf, praises 

Rose Cooke, 508; writes of Louise 

Moulton, 508 
Wigglesworth, Michael, Goodwin in 

favor of, 132 
Wilkinson, Ozias, erects a mill, 363 
Willard, Mrs. Emma Hart, aid of 

Henry Barnard, 214; school books 

written by, 224; literary work of, 

504 
Willard School, in Troy, 224 
William, comes to the throne, 172; 

confirms Connecticut charter, 172; 

allows postal service, 250 
Williams, Asa H., electroplating 

invented by, 359 
Williams, Benjamin, iron-works of, 

291 
Williams, Bishop John, chancellor of, 

Trinity, 241; president Trinity 

College, 245 
Williams, Colonel Israel, buys boots 

of Williams of Wethersfield, 112 
Williams, Elisha, students go to, 230; 

Yale prospers under, 232; resigns 

rectorship, 232 
Williams, Ephraim, bootmaker, 112 
Williams, Jr., Ezekiel, Morgan aids, 

394 
Williams, Matthew, a brickmaker, 

109 
Williams, Roger, 10; quoted, 33; 

goes to plead with Narragansetts, 

39 
Williams, Solomon, Ezekiel grandson 

of, 394 
Williams, Thomas S., secretary in- 
surance company, 395 
Williams College, Connecticut men 

heads of, 247 

Memorial Institute, 224 

Williamson, Caleb, court moves to 

tavern of, 59 
Willimantic, Normal School at, 216; 

cotton industry in, 363; line to, 

completed, 417 

Linen Co. organized, 363 

Willington, Sparks a native of, 247, 

502 
Wilmington, Terry takes, 389 



Wilson, Deborah, a Quaker preacher, 
138 

Wilson, Henry, Rise and Fall of Slave 
Power by, 161; on slavery ques- 
tion, 376 

Wilton, partly in Connecticut, 175; 
academy at, 222 ; Dipsomaniac Re- 
treat at, 491 ; Stuart born in, 510 

Winchester Arms Company, 361 

Hall built, 239 

Observatory, founding of, 237 

—7— Repeating Arms Co., absorbs 
other companies, 361 

Windham, dispute over lands in, 24; 
in tract given to Mason, 25; Nip- 
mucks in, 29; Battle of the Frogs at, 
116; Deacon Gray of, 157; settling 
of, 197 et seq.; division of, 197; first 
town meeting in, 198; Wheelock 
from, 245; mail route to, 311; 
hosiery made in, 314; silkworms in, 
364; care of poor at, 434; jail at, 
439; Cushman born in, 520 

County, wolf hunts in, 117; 

referred to, 200, 493 ; first academy 
in, 221; Separatists' churches in, 
271 

Peace Society formed, 377 



Green, references to, 254 

Windham Herald, advertisements in, 

309; policy of, 346 
Windsor, brick supply in, 3; trading 
house in, 11; sends installment, 
11; uneasiness among Pilgrims at, 
13; referred to, 24, 29, 53, 125; 
purchase of lands near, 25; incor- 
porated, 25; connections of Indians 
of, 30; fighting men from, 40; 
Dorchester changed to, 56; towns- 
men in, 71 ; represented in " Corte, " 
81; second court held in, 82; Pil- 
grims fare badly in, 101; eating 
customs in, 108; Captain Mason of, 
no; Rev. Mather of, 124; Alse 
Young of, 146; obtains part of 
Litchfield County, 169; Female 
Seminary at, 222 ; first road made 
to, 250; Great Awakening in, 267; 
Ellsworth from, 298; a prisoner for 
debt at, 447; Roger Wolcott of, 

497 

Female Seminary, at Windsor, 

222 

Lock, 24 

Winslow, Edward, goes to Connecti- 
cut, 5; goes to Boston, 5; confers 
with Dorchester leaders, 13; quoted, 
33 



6o8 



Index 



Winslow, John F., cooperates with 
Bushnell, 387; becomes Ericsson's 
partner, 388 

Winsted, Gilbert School at, 224; mill 
built in, 363; silk industry in, 364; 
first enlistment at, 382; Gilbert 
Home at, 482 ; referred to, 483 

Winthrop, Fitz-john, sent to confirm 
charter, 172; voted to intercede 
with king, 178 

Winthrop, Jr., John, head of the 
Puritans, 9; commissioned gover- 
nor of Connecticut, 14; appointed 
commissioner by Connecticut, 15; 
at first conference, 15; not ac- 
knowledged by English up river, 
15; goes to New London, 22; buys 
land, 25; represents Warwick pat- 
ent, 56; referred to, 58; governor 
of Connecticut 18 years, 73; 
associate of Ludlow, 75; sails with 
request, 77; Connecticut awaits 
return of, 78; yields Long Island 
to Nicolls, 80; seal on commission 
of, 99; difficulties endured by, 103; 
indictment of Mrs. Harrison made 
under, 150; goes to court for 
charter, 166; favors surrender of 
charter, 169; on commission board, 
183; petition of, 191; sets up mill, 
191; reference to, 249; had one of 
early coaches, 254 

Winthrop, Margaret, quoted, 103 

Winthrop, Theodore, killed at Big 
Bethel, 384; works of, 508 

Wisconsin, early governors of, 205; 
school system of, 206 

University of, Barnard is chan- 
cellor of, 225 

Wolcott, Jr., Henry, takes notes of 
sermon, 61 

Wolcott, Oliver, a Yale man, 235; 
addresses convention, 304; speaks 
of taxes, 325; failure to seat, 348; 
made governor, 348; as governor, 
349; reelected governor, 350 

Wolcott, Roger, writes of state seal, 

[ 99; revision of laws by, 273; re- 
ferred to, 496; Poetical Medita- 
tions, by, 497 

Wolcott, Seth Thomas born in, 358; 
Alcott born in, 504 

Wollcott, Alexander, presides at 
convention, 350 

Woodbridge, 18 

Hall dedicated, 239 

Woodbury, settlement made in, 
20; William Curtis settles, 25; re- 



ferred to, 198; Parker academy in, 
223 

Woodstock, settlers take path 
through, 1 1 ; last wolf killed in, 1 17; 
disputed land in, 176; the settling 
of, 198; Jedediah Morse of, 219; 
academy built in, 221; Path 
through, 249; interest in first 
wagon at, 254; Library Associa- 
tion formed by, 311 

Academy, 223 

Woodward, Dr., at Massachusetts 
Insane Hospital, 464 

Woodward, P. Henry, vice-president 
Connecticut General Life, 408 

Wood worth, Widow, 118 

Woolsey, Theodore Dwight, Day's 
successor, 237; great authority of 
law, 237; many works by, 511 

Woolsey, Theodore S., contributes to 
reform school, 448 

Woolsey Auditorium, memorial or- 
gan in, 239 

Wooster, Major-General David, a 
Yale man, 235 

Worcester, Bay Path through, 249 

Work, Henry Clay, a song-writer, 507 

Worthington founded, 205 

College, Kilburn president of, 

205 

Wright, Elizur, 405 

Wright, George F., work of, 521, 522 

Wyllys, Colonel George, Earl paints 
portrait of, 515 

Wyllys, Samuel, charter committed 
to, 78; one of "committee," 90, 
283; charter hidden in oak be- 
longing to, 170 

Wyoming given to Pennsylvania, 201 

Country, Pennsylvania called, 

200 



Yale, Elihu, contributions to college 
from, 231 ; new building named for, 
231 

Yale, Hiram, finds new metal, 359 

Yale, Jr., Linus, inventor Yale lock, 
360 

Yale & Towne Manufacturing Com- 
pany, in Stamford, 360 

Yale Art School, 523 

"Yale College, President and Fel- 
lows of, " new charter for, 232 

Yale, "Collegiate School," beginning 
of, 208 

Field, purchase of, 238 



Ind 



ndex 



609 



Yale Literary Magazine, some editors 
of, 239; established, 239 

Lock, fame to Connecticut 

through, 360 

Medical Institution of, chartered, 

236 

Yale School of Forestry, publica- 
tions of, 542 

School of Music, 535 

University, Cutler Rector of, 

141; the founding of, 228 ff.; is 
divided, 230; social strata in, 232 
et seq.; Cutler made Rector of, 
232; beginning of the modern, 235; 
Revolutionary heroes from, 235; 
divided during the Revolution, 235; 
library building completed at, 237; 
football begun at, 238; beginning 



of Harvard games with, 238; gym- 
nasium built for, 239; School of 
Forestry founded at, 239; infirm- 
ary given, 239; domitories built 
at, 239; valuable collections in, 
240; Johnson a graduate of, 246; 
Whitefield condemns, 270; John- 
son educated at, 298; religious life 
in, 368; theological school at, 370 
York, Duke of, Long Island granted 
to, 80; patents granted to, 173; 
referred to, 199 
York, settlers come from, 20 
Yorktown, surrender of, 292 
Young, Alse, first victim of witch- 
craft craze, 146 
Young Men's Christian Association, 
headquarters of, 239 



Silas Deane 

A Connecticut Leader in the American 
Revolution 

By 

George L. Clark 

Author of " Notions of a Yankee Parson " 
With Frontispiece. $1 .50 net 

The author presents a fresh study from original 
sources of one of the most efficient leaders in the 
early part of the Revolution. The book is the 
result of an endeavor to describe clearly, fairly, and 
vividly the career of this powerful man, in his as- 
sociations with Washington, Franklin, Beaumar- 
chais, Vergennes, and Lee; to trace the steps of 
his ascent, decline, and ruin; to unfold the motives, 
and picture the conspiracy weaving its fatal nets 
about a high-minded and unselfish leader, who 
struggled vainly against his unscrupulous enemies. 
The book sheds fresh light upon eventful and 
critical days, and places before the reader in graphic 
and lucid style one of the most energetic, effective, 
and pathetic leaders in the Revolution. 

G. P. Putnam's Sons 

New York London 



~\_- 



